Goiás: Estudantes de Atitude / Students of Attitude

Students of Attitude is a public policy to promote citizen participation instruments within the state public education network in Goiás (Brazil), using a gamified methodology for the engagement and active learning of its participants. The project has its origins in the development of the civic audit tool, initially developed within the scope of the Inspection and Control Institute so that users of public services could carry out an autonomous assessment of the quality of these instruments.

Implemented in the State of Goiás since 2019, with the arrival of the current management to the State Comptroller General’s Office, “Students of Attitude” has as its main objective the promotion of the exercise of citizenship, by stimulating social control practices , citizen participation and corruption prevention. In this way, it aims to develop a participatory and transforming political culture in the State of Goiás - internalizing these democratic values of Goiás citizens right in their formation process.

Its methodology is divided into the following stages: 1) training of professors-advisors and the team of students; 2) carrying out the civic audit - when students perform a thorough analysis of the structural and social challenges of their institution; 3) the special task - where, in the year 2023, the project was dedicated to measuring the Gross National Happiness (GNH) of the participants; 4) the challenge - moment where the students assume the protagonism in the transformation of their reality; and 5) the evaluation and awarding of schools with the best performance

The project's methodology stands out for its innovative nature. Using gamification and interaction tools, “Estudantes de Attitude” promotes the immediate use of the concepts presented to these young people - providing the awakening of a valuable sense of belonging and ownership with regard to public heritage. These qualitative gains have been the subject of a thorough assessment to understand their impacts. Since 2021, for example, the project has had an agreement to hire four full-time researchers - the result of a partnership with the Goiás Research Support Foundation (FAPEG).

In these 3 editions - in 2020, the project was not carried out due to the pandemic - the results are encouraging. After having 100 participants in the pilot edition, the initiative received more than 700 registrations for 2023, a number of participants that exceeds 78% of all public educational establishments in the State. This year alone, more than 38,000 young people from Goiás will be directly impacted by this experience of citizen transformation. In addition, through a partnership with the National Council for Internal Control, the methodology will be replicated in other 65 control bodies that are members of the collegiate.

More information:

• https://www.controladoria.go.gov.br/ 

• https://www.estudantesdeatitude.go.gov.br/2023/