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This paper presents some educational experiences in countering educational poverty developed within the "Avanguardie educative” (AE) Movement as part of the Idea "Inside-Outside-School - Service Learning." The Idea takes the educational approach of Service Learning (SL) as a framework for developing learning pathways that connect the school with the external context and community. In the spirit of AE, which promotes bottom-up experiences of innovation and transformation of the traditional school model, SL pathways are instrumental in preventing and combating educational poverty through activities guided by a pedagogical and value-driven vision that enable students to act within the community. SL enables the design of educational experiences in real-life contexts, fostering participation and motivation for study, the acquisition of knowledge, disciplinary competencies, soft skills and active citizenship, and allows the community to achieve benefits (McIlrath et al., 2016) in terms of developing services, activities and solutions to emerging problems.

The actions are therefore the outcome of co-design pathways that result in activities aimed at achieving learning and service objectives (Tapia, 2006). With respect to the issue of educational poverty (Nuzzacci et al., 2020), SL encourages participation in the pathways by the school (students and teachers) and the external community; in relation to this, this educational approach has been used by some educational institutions (Chipa et al, 2021) as a pedagogy for countering the various emergencies that emerged with the Covid-19 pandemic (UNESCO, 2022), at a time when conditions of material deprivation have been compounded by cultural deprivation (Save the Children, 2018; 2020) due to school closures and difficult access to educational activities.

According to Save the Children's (2018) definition, the construct of educational poverty is represented by four operational dimensions, with respect to which it is possible to identify the contribution of SL as an approach and as a concrete experience through what the AE Movement schools have developed. Specifically:

• Learning to understand, SL as a pedagogy of reality allows for the acquisition of skills to deal with contemporary challenges (Lotti & Orlandini, 2022).

• Learning to be, SL allows for raising motivation, sense of efficacy, and the ability to handle difficult and stressful situations (De Pietro, 2019).

• Learning to live together. SL is referred to as a pedagogy of cooperation and solidarity (UNESCO, 2022) and contributes to the development of soft and social skills (Mendía, 2017; Gregorová et al. 2016).

• Learning to lead an autonomous and active life. SL enables all participants to perceive themselves as active participants for the social and cultural improvement of the target area (Zlotkowski, 2007).

The four operational dimensions will guide the analysis of the experiences presented, which, moreover, have been developed from the needs of the reference context in continuity with the characterizing elements of SL (Tapia, 2006; Furco, 1996; Orlandini et al., 2020), fostering the “virtuous circle” (Tapia, 2006) between learning and service.

Within the Bologna Process (Wihlborg & Teelke, 2014) and in the various European reforms (EUA Trends, 2018; EHEA, 2015; Eurydice, 2017), one of the main missions of modern higher education systems is to provide students with the key competences to manage their life and career plans in a complex and challenging society. The levels of early dropout and student failure still remain very high and the youth disengagement rate is one of the social and economic risks in Europe. The integration of experiential learning in the academic curriculum is one of the priorities for higher education systems. The achievement of this goal would lead to the strengthening of each university's active role in promoting the civic engagement of all students and the academic community. Consequently, the challenge for universities is to improve the quality of teaching, hence the need to implement innovative student-centred teaching methodologies.The sociologist Edgar Morin has stated that a reform of universities can only pass through a reform of thinking, in order to train "adults more capable of facing their destiny, more capable of making their living flourish, more capable of relevant knowledge, more capable of understanding human, historical, social and planetary complexities" (Morin, 2015, p. 35; personal translation). In this scenario, the Service Learning model (Puig at all., 2007) is acquiring greater relevance among the teaching methodologies used in universities also in the Italian context. This promotes learning in real situations, involving students in civic initiatives and social programmes which benefit both the student involved in the learning process and the community. This methodology underlies the rediscovery of the value of a didactic oriented towards the integral education and development of the student. A didactic oriented towards these objectives is a support to encounter, to move away from self-referentiality, enhancing the active role of teachers and students as subjects of responsible action in a system of innovative educational relations between university and the society, in which it is not only individual competence that grows and develops, but the entire community. This was investigated by the Erasmus+ project, called "ENHANCE - Enhancing Career and Service Learning in Higher Education"(2021-1-ES01-KA220-HED-000031128), which involved 6 universities, a research center for career guidance, an IT company specialised in career guidance platforms. Among the various project initiatives, the project investigated the learning impact of Service Learning experiences through a collection of testimonies from university students who had experienced it. The survey sample involved students coming from 5 different European countries and belonging to the 6 partner universities of the project. In particular, an attempt was made to map some significant SL best practices, analysing in depth some specific indicators, among which: skills acquired, value attributed to the experience in terms of support to career planning, to the development of civic engagement and a sustainable mindset, networking opportunities, significance of the experience with respect to one's own study path, quality of the training offer. The aim of the survey was to understand the correlation between Service Learning experiences and the students’ learning outcomes.

Universities are urged to prepare for contributing to the promotion of the new social model and to incorporate teaching and learning practices into their educational model that effectively integrate preparation for professional practice and active citizenship, as well as the social responsibility of their students and graduates (United Nations, 2022).

The experience presented in this work took place at the Faculty of Education of the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM) during the first semester of the academic year 2023-2024, based on the development and implementation of active learning methodologies, such as Service-Learning (Myers, 2020) and Design For Change (Cantón and Ojeda, 2017). In essence, it is an initiative aimed to promote interaction between students with intellectual disabilities, who are specializing in Health and Dependency Care Diploma conducted as well at UCM, and those pursuing a Double Degree in Early Childhood Education and Pedagogy, hereinafter referred to as pre-service teachers. These are enrolled in the subject of Science Education, and they developed projects to update didactic resources addressed to the students with intellectual disabilities. To facilitate the stages of problem identification, action plan design, service implementation, reflection on their work, and project dissemination, it has been employed the Design For Change (DFC) methodology. DFC is an appropriate strategy for empowering students, based on design thinking, characterized by promoting empathy, creativity, teamwork, and critical thinking (Cantón and Ojeda, 2017).

Once the experience concluded, the pre-service teachers completed a digital portfolio where they have been registered the work done and its impact on the teaching-learning process of the respective subject. For instance, a group stated that “We have been offered a transformative education, that is, one that proposes actions taking into account environmental sustainability, human rights, equality, and gender equity, all of this in coherence with institutional development. An education that fosters a reflective and critical perspective of reality”.

After several academic years applying DFC in various subjects in the field of Science Education, it has been observed that experiential and more meaningful learning is promoted. However, by combining DFC within a framework of Service-Learning, it ensures that students learn by providing a service to the community and emphasize their social commitment. The DFC methodology helps students maintain the thread of their projects in the different phases of planning, execution, reflection, and dissemination, but the ultimate goals are set by the Service-Learning context. Therefore, the proposed experience and the achieved results can serve as an example for other educators to embark on Service-Learning projects and strive to educate professionals capable of addressing the current and future challenges of 21st-century society.

When we speak about Service Learning, we refer to solidarity disposition of the learners (Baker-Boosamra, 2006; O'Sullivan, & Niemczyk, 2015). How can we describe this attitude? Does it have the same meaning and point out the same experience for everybody?

The aim of this research is to investigate this polysemic attitude in the student’s university experience, at the Faculty of Educational Science for Educational and Social Work. Which kind of relation can we hypothesise between the student’s ideas or beliefs about educational work and the real experience that they live during their internships?

The sample of the research is 63 students. The perspective is the educational research (Calvani, De Angelis, Marzano & Vegliante, 2022) and the object is the student’s experience during their internship. The tool of the research is the self-report, that every student filled during the course of Reflection about Internship. The data set includes 63 self-report. Thematic content analysis (Braun, Clark, 2006) is used as a qualitative approach to figure out two dimensions of the specific internship’s situation narrated in the self-reports: 1) emotions felt in that situation 2) beliefs and assumptions related to education action’s choice in that situation. The data are analysed through Atlas.ti (software Atlas.ti Vers 9.0.7 ©) with a top down and a bottom up procedure.

The results show that 48/63 (76%) reported frustration and or impotence as main emotional experience, in relation to their expectation of generating change in the Other (s) engaged in the educational relationship; 15/63 (24%) reported other main emotions: anger 9 (14.2%); fear 4 (6.3%); sadness 2 (3.1%).

Moreover, the analyses (still in progress) of the beliefs/assumptions present the prevalence of words as: unicum, autonomy, respect, community, goodness, person.

A preliminary discussion can highlight some issues. It seems that the students who choose educational profession have as a frame of reference (Taylor, 1989/1993) the Other’s goodness and wellness, and the community as the relevant context, suggesting a solidarity’s attitude. However, they felt, as prevalent emotions, frustration and impotence, when they meet the educational realities; As if there is a gap between their expectation and the reality. We can think to a «romantic» solidarity’s idea.

These claims can be relevant in a teaching-learning context specially. In fact, if we underestimate this gap, the risk is not to promote the transition from romantic solidarity to a solidarity that comes from «fine interchange» (Nussbaum, 2001/2004), the solidarity as a possible way to live the dialogical tension between Self and Other (s) (Markova, 2016).

Service-Learning is an innovative teaching method that combines community service with academic learning. This empirical research aims to analyze and compare how this method has been applied in Italy and Spain, studying its history, theory and peculiarities.

Service-Learning helps students emancipate themselves from the limitations of certain educational contexts and experience learning as an engaging experience. This method does not separate theory from practice but connects them synergistically, creating active participation and authentic relationships. Thanks to this, students become conscious, responsible citizens and builders of a more just and inclusive society by developing critical and reflective thinking.

Through a qualitative analysis of the documents on Service-Learning and a historical-interpretative approach, it was possible to reconstruct the genesis and evolution of the practice of Service-Learning in Spain and Italy. It emerged that in Spain, the uptake of Service-Learning was mainly driven by a bottom-up approach. Ideas and initiatives emerged from the grassroots through the deep integration of this methodology into pre-existing organizational structures in each territory, subsequently spreading organically and attracting the attention of various associations and institutions. This process of contagion has led these organizations to consider the Aprendizaje-Servicio not as an external adjunct, but as a valuable tool in line with their objectives, reflecting an inherently democratic and participatory pedagogical philosophy.

Looking at Italy, the expansion of Service-Learning combines both top-dowm and bottom-up elements. The influence of top-dowm logic is evident, especially in the initial two-year training experiment "Oltre l’aula" and in the subsequent phases. However, it is equally important to note the contribution of the Avanguardie Educative. The identification of experiences developed independently by the schools has enabled the INDIRE research institute to implement and support other realities at an institutional level, following a top-down logic.

Benchmarking of educational experiences shows a significant disparity in the implementation of Service-Learning. Spain is an advanced and promising model to follow, with a wide network of promoters, first and foremost the Red Española de Aprendizaje-Servicio (REDAPS), together with the Editorial Edebé and the Ministerio de Educación y Formación Profesional. Its consolidated experience has led to the mandatory integration of Service-Learning in all schools of all levels. In addition, the almost ten-year time difference in the field highlights the maturity and solidity of the Spanish model, accumulating a significant wealth of experience and knowledge in the field. On the other hand, Italy is still at an intermediate stage, due to the lack of a coordinated network of institutions and a rigorous methodology. It is true that INDIRE has recognized and valued the practice of Service-Learning, inserting it within the Movimento delle Avanguardie Educative. However, the search for projects to be analyzed, conducted by examining the official sites that promote Service-Learning projects, such as the Scuola di Alta Formazione Educare all’Incontro e alla Solidarietà (EIS), revealed fragmented project documentation and haphazard presentation. This indicates the need for greater cohesion and clarity in Italian Service-Learning practices.

In light of the growing demand for professional recognition of translation skills (EMT 2022) and the imperative to enhance the social role of translators, which is closely related to community engagement, social action and social change (Taibi and Ozolins 2016), the potential of service-learning emerges as a viable didactic approach in the field of translation (Tocaimaza-Hatch 2018).

In this contribution we propose a Service Learning academic approach representing an experimental fusion of Gouadecʼs project-based translation pedagogy (2005) and Deweyʼs democratic pedagogy (1916): the first makes it possible to apply and boost the knowledge, skills and abilities acquired in the individual modules of a Master's degree course, rooting them in professional experience; the second enables the development through service-learning of active citizenship skills, by stimulating reflection on the practical civic engagement and solidarity values in the community.

More specifically, we introduce IN.TRA (Inclusive Translation for Community Engagement), a pro bono language service provider managed by students, inspired by simulated translation bureaus (van Egdom et al. 2020). IN.TRA was set up in March 2021 within the Master's degree course in Specialized Translation at the University of Bologna. We describe the theoretical and methodological underpinnings of the initiative, its implications, pitfalls and affordances. Among the latter is the collaboration with an international non-profit organization (NPO), whose terms were negotiated directly by the students. IN.TRA students offer interlingual community services and help the NPO to disseminate its activities and its members’ stories through translation. This cooperative effort with the community partners not only has the potential to break language and cultural barriers, but also favours a wider audience's access to the NPO's world, enhancing, promoting and upholding linguistic diversity in Europe, thus making a significant contribution to achieving language equality in the digital age (European Parliament resolution (2018/2028(INI)).

We suggest that this didactic approach offers a replicable model adaptable to diverse academic programs in the humanities. It is notably well-suited to fostering international and inter-university collaboration, establishing an environment wherein students can cultivate a sophisticated skill set essential for managing extensive projects within the domain of human rights translation. This is particularly significant given the existing challenges faced by language-related degree programs in attracting students and equipping them with the requisite skills to remain employable and to successfully contribute to an ever faster-changing society.