Pilot Projects
CCI is currently conducting two pilot projects to evaluate the effectiveness of different modalities of cultural change. Both projects seek to discover ways to imbue future generations with progressive cultural attributes that maximize the chances that they will value and strive for economic progress, democratic citizenship, and social justice.
Citizenship education study in Mexico
The purpose of the study is to assess the effectiveness of alternative approaches to develop democratic civic knowledge and attitudes among low-income adolescents in Mexico in public schools. The study will evaluate the impact of two approaches to citizenship education in the development of knowledge and skills for democratic citizenship among low-income adolescents in two states in Mexico (Nuevo Leon and Guerrero). The intervention will assess two modalities of citizenship education: 1) deliberative and academic education, and 2) integration of academic education with service learning. These two treatments are being implemented in 60 lower secondary schools in the area of Greater Monterrey and in 60 lower secondary schools in the greater Acapulco. In these schools 10 of them will receive no special support –but implement the official curriculum of instruction of civic education), 25 will receive support to enhance the pedagogy of teachers in academic deliberative education, and an additional 25 schools will implement an in-service education program.
The study is directed by Fernando Reimers, Professor of International Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education in partnership with colleagues in two local Mexican institutions, VIA Educacion, a non-profit organization based in Monterrey which specializes in teacher professional development, and the Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico. In addition, a survey research firm is tasked with the development and administration of the questionnaires, under the direction of the research team.
Parenting education study in Costa Rica
The aim of this project is to explore the impact of an early intervention in Costa Rican families. The intervention is a value driven curriculum on child rearing practices, and seeks to impart the skills parents need to raise children who display progressive cultural attributes, such as a belief in the importance of education, entrepreneurship, democracy, and social justice. The project will take place in childcare centers in the Central Valley of San Jose, Costa Rica.
The study was designed by Jerry Kagan, an emeritus professor of psychology at Harvard University, and Martha Julia García-Sellers, a professor of child development at Tufts University, and is directed by Luis Diego Herrera Amighetti, a Costa Rican psychiatrist.