The research project

The essay defines the methodological plan of the empirical study regarding CISV (Children’s International Summer Villages) activities. After a presentation of CISV, an international organisation devoted to peace and intercultural education, the chapter focuses on the methodology adopted to observe the cultural presuppositions of interactions within CISV villages and summer camps, in which the participants are children (villages), adolescents (summer camps), adult leaders of children/adolescents delegations, camp directors, and other staff. The field study includes video-recording of interactions, questionnaires and interviews in 12 villages and camps. The analysis is centred on (1) the participant’s narratives, i.e. their constructions of the meanings of cultural presuppositions emerged during the activities, and (2) the linguistic cues for the cultural presuppositions of interactions involving these participants during the activities.