Conference Program

Lamberto Borghi (1907-2000) is undoubtedly one of the pedagogues who most influenced the Italian pedagogical landscape in the 20th century. He graduated in philosophy and specialised in German literature. For several years he taught in various Italian high schools and in 1938, following the promulgation of the fascist racial laws, he was dismissed. He left the country and went to the United States where, in intellectual and university milieus, he met and established personal and professional relationships with Salvemini, Cassirer and Dewey. Following the war he came back to Italy; he replaced Codignola at the Chair of Pedagogy at the University of Florence. He decided to rework a 'secular' paradigm of pedagogical research, motivated by his strong civil and political commitment.

Of his work, we will investigate "Education and Social Development" and "School and Community". These are two complementary texts in which the author analyses the theme of the relationship and link between the school and the social and cultural context of the territory. We want to highlight how, in Borghi's approach, the possibility of building an inclusive school starts from the link it has with the local community. And it is precisely through the relationship that links the school's educational action to the environment and the social fabric that a pedagogical paradigm that decisively broadens its outlook can be explained. For this reason, the teaching strategies for an inclusive school, in Borghi's thought, only find their meaning through the unity of practical/educational and theoretical approaches that constitutes a peculiar cultural model for an inclusive school.

The method with which we will approach the texts is historical-critical. We will read the facts and data that emerge from the texts and documents, framing them within their historical context, trying, as far as possible, to illustrate the author's thinking, his relations with the intellectuals of the time, emphasising the issues he wanted to raise with his writings.

The educational system at the basis of the pedagogical debate that has developed to the present day has remained based on the model of compulsory education that developed from the origins of the nation-states and was then aimed at educating citizens adherent to the values and institutions of the state. As Durkheim emphasised at the time, education is a process of cultural transmission from one generation to the next, aimed at adapting young people to their physical and social environment due to the values prevailing in society (2009). The graphic representation of the educational triangle, proposed by Herbart to draw attention to the interactions between teacher, student, and content in education at the basis of education has remained a reference for more than a century, during which the pedagogical debate has been limited to shifting the position of the three subjects at the vertices or contextualising the educational triangle itself in a broader context of external relations (Hudson &al., 1999).

However, the last fifty years have led to a simultaneous increase of difficulties in the functioning of the institutions responsible for social cohesion, the relationship between the economy and society, and the formation of individual and collective identities (Fitoussi and Rosanvallon, 1996). Economic globalisation has led to the collapse of forms of national cohesion and the establishment of delegations to local communities has increased the crisis of legitimacy of the state by favouring the tribalisation of society (Castells, 1997). With the loss of the constitutive value of knowledge, which also meant certainty and trust in the institutions that transmitted it, the reflexive nature of knowledge through its application and the continuous reformulation of knowledge itself in the light of new information was affirmed, leading to the need to reformulate the articulation of education and knowledge with the formation of the citizen (Giddens, 1994). The need for each individual to acquire the cognitive skills for active citizenship and to develop the capacity to construct a complex identity without a dominant eye, where citizenship is configured in the plurality of spheres of commitment, leads to an idea of a school whose autonomy necessary for knowledge as a reflection linked to practice is also a stimulus for links and not for isolation, for the stimulation of connections between institutions that overcome traditional formalism and allow for real exchanges, both nationally and internationally (Tedesco, 2000; 2004).

At this point, reference to the educational triangle is no longer sufficient to represent the complexity of the relationships involved. The aim of this contribution is to propose a new graphic representation, no longer two-dimensional, but three-dimensional in order to facilitate attention to all the elements that come into play in today's democratic and inclusive educational process. Through the reference to Service Learning (SL), which affirms the importance of the "positive cycle" between knowledge content and service (Tapia, 2012), the figure of a double tetrahedron is proposed, which on the pivot of the nuclear teacher-student relationship allows for the relationship of content and experience, as well as virtuality.

In this paper, we will discuss opportunities for multigrade teaching to fulfil its promise as an effective form of pedagogy. We recognise Hoffman’s (2003 p12) call to action on multigrade provision such that ‘the school day and use of instructional time must be structured so that diversity is accommodated and celebrated as an important resource‘, because the age-heterogenous classroom ‘is made up of children with diverse abilities, learning styes and behaviours’.

While this statement, and others offering similar accounts of the inclusive potential of multigrade provision move the discussion forward, they remain inadequate. We reflect on the discourses surrounding the inherent diversity in multigrade classes and highlight the deficit notions engrained in terminologies such as multigrade teaching being subject to ‘accommodations’, ‘adapted’ or ‘differentiated’ which we frequently find applied, specifically in English contexts (Department for Education, 2021; Mould, 2021). At the same time, scholars looking to widen the focus of inclusive teaching to cover not only pupils who tend not to fit into mainstream school systems (e.g. those with additional needs) have contended that the whole cohort of individuals requires attention. Subsequently, they encourage resources to be spent on introducing revised practices and institutional systems (Florian, 2014: Pantić & Florian, 2015)

The above approaches invariably continue to emphasise the priority given to individuality in English school provision. which works against the sense of achieving collective acts (Waters & Brighouse, 2022). To understand multigrade as a promising pedagogy, that is, one with potential for promoting inclusive and democratic education, we carried out a scoping review of the recent literature on multigrade teaching in small state school contexts to examine: organisation (leadership & management in school) and, pedagogy (teaching & learning). We identified relevant items (n=103) but after the exclusion of certain material (government papers, teachers’ newsletters/blogs, trades union statements) 78 items were explored.

We will present in our paper the case of England, where the many organisational challenges previously reported as associated with this provision were confirmed through our literature review. However, with regard to identifying multigrade inclusive democratic pedagogy i.e., contexts that are communal, allow for collectivity and foster mutual spaces, we found that we have to look outside mainstream compulsory state education to engage with fresh thinking (e.g. organisations such as Phoenix Education’s Freedom to Learn project). Given our aim is to move forward the debate on what multigrade schooling in compulsory state education might offer as a promising pedagogy, we would like to make comparisons with discourses from other countries. We acknowledge that the outcomes of our research to date largely concern the English context and we seek to explore our findings with scholars from diverse schooling systems.

Although international legislation supporting the inclusion of people with disabilities in education, training and labour systems strongly urges States to put in place ad hoc national policies, the opportunities for young people with disabilities to develop skills that can be used in the labour market still seem very low, considering their early school leaving, their difficulty in accessing to vocational and educational training courses, the problems still related to the skills certification system, the lack of specific professional figures (guidance counselor /job tutor) for the construction of Individual Transition Plans and the absence of a territorial network of guidance and job support services for young people with disabilities. This research paper will be turned to exploring the complex phenomenon of the participation of disabled students in education and training courses and their involvement in Individual Transition Plans that could give them a real opportunity to access in the labour market. The first part of the survey aims to offer a general overview of the participation of disabled people in education and training systems in Europe, through a comparative analysis of the phenomenon of early school leaving of disabled students in Europe, based on the study of European documents, of European Agency for Special Educational Needs Reports and/or other international analysis. The second part is revolved, given the importance that learning experiences in a workplace have for disabled students, to the analysis of the italian Pathways for Transversal Competences and Orientation (PCTO). PCTOs, provided in Italy from the third year of higher education, represent the greatest opportunity for students with disabilities to acquire skills that can be used in the labour market, offering them the opportunity to experiment and recognize their abilities. Unfortunately, PCTOs do not always take place in an environment outside the school, limiting learning opportunities for people with disabilities. In most cases, this is due to the lack of stable relationships with employers and the lack of guidance counselor and job tutor for the construction of an Individual Plan oriented to the integration of young people with disabilities in the labour market, so in the society. Through interviews with school Directors, teachers and beneficiaries, the research activity aims to better understand the job orientation process for disabled students and their participation in a PCTO, as well as the system for the recognition and the application of the skills acquired by the students involved in a PCTO. The last part of the paper shows some best practices, both European and Italian, on school to work transition plans for students with disabilities, as well as common criteria of intervention for the development of a training and work orientation project for students with disabilities, which is shared and integrated into the different systems.

Debunking the myth of “homogeneity by chronological age” (Tomlinson, 2003) is crucial to equity and inclusion in education (The Global Education 2030 Agenda, 2015), as it allows teachers to assume student academic, social and cultural diversity as a foundation for their professional choices. Opposite to standard age-based instruction, which relies on this myth as a principle for school organization and teaching, multigrade education has been dealing with student heterogeneity for a longer time and educational research widely explored the issues and the opportunities of this particular type of heterogeneity (Mulryan-Kyne, 2007, Engin, 2018). Within this field of research, some studies (Little, 2006; Cornish, 2021) contributed to identifying multigrade as a “promising pedagogy” for inclusion and diverse classrooms. According to these studies, age heterogeneity is a lever for differentiated instruction (Smit, 2015) and social learning in a mixed-age context (Sherry-Wagner, 2016) using flexible grouping, cooperative learning and reciprocal teaching (Hyry-Beihammer, 2015).

However, as the application of this “promising pedagogy” may be affected by teachers' professional knowledge, attitudes and beliefs (Santos, 2019), we need to investigate explicit and implicit constraints in the implementation of theoretical framework in multigrade classrooms, to perform a coherent practice and collect robust evidence of actual inclusiveness. According to this issue, the paper presents and discusses the results of exploratory research performed on a sample of 124 Italian multigrade teachers who have been asked about curriculum design, classroom organization and management, learning strategies and assessment in multigrade settings through of an open-ended questionnaire.

In the international educational debate, Italy has stood out since the mid-1970s for its pioneering role in the integration of students with disabilities into mainstream classes (Pavone, 2012). This approach, now recognised worldwide and supported by numerous international standards and documents (UN, 2006, 2015; Unesco, 2017, 2019; EU, 2021), advocates inclusive education not only for ethical reasons, but also because it provides an optimal framework to promote the development of each student's potential and create a climate of acceptance and respect for all forms of diversity. The recent adoption of the "Government Disability Mandate Act" (L. 227/2021, Delega al Governo in materia di disabilità) represents a significant step forward. It envisages a future in which social care is transformed so that people with disabilities can participate fully in society, transcending the boundaries of specialised centres and living "on an equal basis with others" in the real world (Piccione, 2023). This approach emphasises the growing need to develop 'expert' education systems that are not only designed to place students with disabilities in mainstream classrooms, but also to prepare them for life after school, for democratic citizenship (Medeghini&Fornasa, 2011). This legislative milestone emphasises the need to develop pedagogical practises accordingly and to ensure that teachers are both theoretically informed and practically equipped to guide and facilitate these transformative changes (Bocci, 2018).

The University of Turin's Professional Development Course (CUAP) "Expert in inclusive educational processes" is a proactive response to these needs. This initiative, developed as part of a comprehensive Memorandum of Understanding to promote inclusive culture in Piedmont, aims not only to improve the skills of teachers with a university qualification in special needs education (Romano et al., 2021), but also, and more importantly, the skills of their trainers (Damiani et. al, 2021). This course is particularly aimed at those who lead laboratory activities in specialisation courses and is designed to equip trainers with advanced methods and practises to promote an inclusive educational environment (Taylor&Cranton, 2012).

This approach recognises the central role trainers play in shaping the future of education by preparing new teachers to meet the challenges of inclusion (Gibson et. al, 2016). By focusing on the development of trainer competencies, the course aims to create a domino effect and ensure that the principles of inclusive education are embedded at all levels of teacher education (Priestley et al., 2015).

Our presentation will critically analyse the structure, content and outcomes of the "Expert in inclusive educational processes" course and provide insights into effective strategies to promote a truly inclusive educational landscape, starting with the training of trainers.

To summarise, the University of Turin's efforts are exemplary of how educational institutions can act as catalysts for social change by redefining the role of teachers as 'activists of change' within inclusive education (Naraian&Schlessinger, 2017). The findings emphasise the collective responsibility for developing competent educational contexts that are able to adapt to the diverse needs and potentials of all students, thus advancing the agenda for a more inclusive society.