Open Schooling in Science Education: A Systematic Literature Review

Open schooling is a recent educational approach that has been recently introduced in European policies, so the literature on its transfer to the education system is still limited. The aim of this study is to configure an overview of how open schooling has been implemented in science education in terms of its definition, the topics addressed, the pedagogical aspects considered, and the benefits obtained for the teaching-learning processes. A systematic literature review was carried out using the PRISMA 2020 methodology, in which 27 documents published between 2015 and 2024 were analysed. Open schooling is defined mainly as an approach in which students, teachers, and other stakeholders, especially students’ families, collaborate to provide solutions to real-life issues in search of the community’s well-being. The open schooling experiences usually addressed environmental and health issues through scientific practices and contextualization mainly, developing activities of data collection, synthesis and analysis, dissemination, and information and communication technologies with the students. Companies and local businesses are the preferred stakeholders involved, followed by experts and researchers. Questionnaires are the preferred instruments for data collection, and the documents analysed report benefits for students’ learning and motivation and also for teachers and schools.