Conference Program

The paper aims to analyze the developmental trajectories of student/youth participation in two areas of their everyday life: school social management and learning processes. At the same time, its peculiarities are analyzed (with reference to the Arnstein scale model), trying to connect them to the degree of well-being perceived by the student component in the course of study and, ultimately, to the social function of the school itself.

With respect to the first topic, the occupation of numerous school institutions by students and students' initiative and the 50th anniversary of the establishment of collegial school bodies (Presidential Decree 416/1974) constitute, respectively, the term ad quem and a quo for a historical framing of school social management institutions and their degree of participatory vitality. Thus, a path is offered along a number of stages of analysis - the inception of collegiate bodies, the introduction of school autonomy, attempts at legislative change, the approval of the Students' Statute, and the spread of community educational pacts - which, taken together, constitute a prism for reading the social and cultural transformations of the past fifty years. This path will critically reflect on the different phases of republican history, from the post-1968 season to the social-democratic and, more recently, the neo-liberal, choosing-as the lens of analysis-school policies for the (de)-construction of democratic schooling. The last stage of the journey, with reference to youth and student protagonism, particularly active with respect to the major issues of climate change and the social impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, is dedicated to assessing new forms of participation and co-design to flank the more traditional collegiate bodies, with respect to which various actors have initiated a reflection to reactivate their function as catalysts of collective and democratic participation.

The reflection proposed in the first part of the contribution naturally also calls into question the relationship of the school with society: if Presidential Decree No. 416 declares the transition from the state school to the school as an educating community through "participation in the management of the school giving it the character of a community that interacts with the larger social and civic community" (art. 1. c. 1), fifty years after that indication one cannot postpone a related reflection on the relationship between school and society, that is, of what society, according to the reversal proposed by Gert Biesta, is required by a truly democratic school dedicated to the growth of citizens.

The contribution, as anticipated, cannot escape from considering and examining the relationship between representation/participation and the student component's instances of protagonism with different teaching models (transmissive-passive vs. collaborative-participative). In this regard, reference is made to the studies that identify the different levels of participation of female students in different forms of teaching and rank them according to the description of the possible ways of their involvement in teaching activities and educational choices within everyday classroom life (as an example, see Hart's scale).

This presentation demonstrates the importance of the curriculum in the processes of change in the education system to make Early Childhood Care and Education (hereafter ECCE) more equitable, inclusive and accessible, what the role of the curriculum is and what the essential characteristics are for effective, appropriate and sustainable implementation.

Current research, particularly in affective, cognitive neuroscience and early childhood development, as the recognition of the importance of ECCE by civil society, international organisations, highlight the unique needs and particularities of children in this age group. This is a crucial period in a person's life that will have an impact on his or her future life, future studies, and society. Education and school is a special place where the child will continue to grow, particularly with his peers (cf. socio-constructivism). Despite the evidence highlighting the benefits of ECCE, there is a lack of investment, human and financial resources in this sub-sector (UNESCO, 2019), which can have consequences for the quality of service provision and affect the quality of teaching.

To reduce and mitigate the problems associated with the quality of ECCE provision, one of the keys to improvement and a lever for action is the curriculum, which is both a tool and a process designed for change (cf. definition of curriculum, Demeuse, 2013). The curriculum for quality ECCE must be rooted in a certain number of values and priorities together with a certain number of specific characteristics that will be specified in the indications, orientations and aims. The choice of curriculum content is not a minor matter and must reflect fundamental values and a vision that have been defined in advance.

For instance, a curriculum proposal for quality ECCE could consider the following characteristics: the holistic and intersectoral nature of ECCE, the involvement of parents, the inclusion of children with special needs and rights, the principle of equity and equality (between children, between genders, etc.), orientations relating to the choice of educational content, the choice of assessments, the promotion of cultural diversity (endogenous curriculum), etc.

Concretely, there are already implementations that are fighting inequalities. Gardner Howard proposes an application of the Theory of Intelligences to education with an innovative organisation of the school system with the figure of the Curriculum Adviser. Whose role would be to match the aims and children’s interests with the different programmes (Gardner, 1993). This proposal is inclusive and sensitive to diversity because each of the 7 types of intelligence and interests of the children is considered and valued in the learning process.

There is also the question of the obligation to develop a curriculum. Indeed, the Reggio Emilia approach illustrates that the curriculum is not compulsory, since there is no written curriculum or programme, allowing the approach to be easily transferred and applied to another cultural context (Dahlberg, 2007). Therefore, assuming that the curriculum is based on the values of inclusion, accessibility, and quality, it is a lever for action in the process of change, but it is not a condition sine qua non.

This contribution aims to present a model of school organization that is based on promoting social justice in its educational system.

In the context of Italian schools, there is a need for reflection on the existing practices aimed at improving the quality of the educational system, such as those of Scuola-Città Pestalozzi.

Scuola-Città Pestalozzi in Florence is an experimental institution under Article 11 of Legislative Decree 275/99, with an extraordinary statute. The experimental decree defines not only the educational activities but also the research activities that are functional to the renewal of the national school system.

For its founder, Ernesto Codignola (1951; 1962), the creation of social life and democratic sociality in school has always been an indispensable condition for the development of the personality of every child and young adult, both socio-emotionally and intellectually.

A democratic model of school organization is not sustainable in the long term in a society structured undemocratically. The democratic transformation of school life must therefore be seen as an aspect of the democratization of society as a whole. A radical transformation of teaching-educational methods presupposes a radical ethical-social, as well as economic, transformation of the entire society. (Bianchini, 2023)

Practices such as student councils and courts of honor, eighty years after its foundation, remain not only valid but necessary for the development of the democratic identity of young citizens.

According to Codignola, these tools help develop self-governance, which is a set of transversal skills that conceive of school as a laboratory of citizenship that teaches how to fight inequalities in general.

The practices of facilitation, reflection, and self-reflection carried out by boys and girls will be presented, with particular attention to the role of the teacher both in the educational design phase and in the implementation phase.

In school, cultural growth and the development of democratic awareness cannot be thought of separately. (Angelini, 2023) Therefore, we must move forward in overcoming the historical and sterile opposition between a school that educates and a school that instructs; otherwise, the school can never be a place where one is educated to combat social injustice.

We believe it is necessary to share the practices implemented in Scuola-Città Pestalozzi because they meet the criteria of teacher quality, student participation in school activities, and the use of active and inclusive pedagogical methods and tools.

In order to make education systems suitable tools to face the economic challenges of contemporary society and to implement processes of quality, equity and effectiveness of education systems, valid and reliable evaluation and assessment processes at every level (Eurydice, 2015; OECD, 2013) have been assumed a central and strategic role. School external evaluation is an important way to improve school organization and system functioning as well as improving the quality of education systems and processes.

In Italy the external evaluation of schools is carried out by a team composed by three individuals: an inspector, with coordination functions, an expert from school (principal or teacher) and an expert from social research. The main aim of school external evaluation is to evaluate school outcomes and, overall, processes to account points of strengths and weaknesses, useful for the improvement of school quality. As a fact, in the Italian school system, school external evaluation (Decree 80/2013) plays a strategic role with the other phases of the evaluation process (self-evaluation, improvement actions and social reporting), in promoting the improvement of the quality of the educational offer and learning. External evaluation is a complementary phase of school self-evaluation. As a fact, the external evaluation process uses the same criteria and rubrics of self-evaluation (INVALSI, 2022) to evaluate the quality of school processes and results.

Many factors come into play in determining the quality of schools such as the quality of teachers and teaching processes, of the school leadership, the relationship with students and the participation of families in the educational dialogue, inclusive and evaluation processes (Dell’Anna, 2021).

School evaluation can allow education system to ensure fair school processes and student equal opportunities (Penninckx et al, 2015; Quintelier et al., 2020), increasing education system and school development (Hofer et al., 2020). However, in highly selective systems, evaluation processes may fail to ensure fairness by not considering the contexts in which schools find themselves and produce side effects or may not foster change in terms of improvement (Ehren et al, 2015; Ehren et al, 2023; Kemethofer et al, 2017).

Starting from these considerations, the present paper reflects on the effect of external evaluation on the improvement of school quality. A qualitative Systematic Review was carried out on the European context for the period 2013-2023. From the analysis and categorization of the articles, three macro-categories emerged, of which the one named “Impacts”, to which 20 papers refer, is the subject of the present work. Suggestions can be drawn from these studies to reinterpret processes and instruments of external school evaluation in terms of quality improvement so that evaluation can be a tool for balancing autonomy and equity (Bottani & Cenerini, 2003). Indeed, external evaluation may be able to generate long-term positive effects on organizational change and decision-making processes. Suggestions for improvement include the perceived quality, fairness and equity of the external evaluation and inspection visits, which translates into the ability to accept the feedback of the final report to set up improvement actions that also reinforce school self-assessment procedures.

The European Peer Review methodology, promoted by the EQAVET National Reference Points, is a useful tool for Quality Assurance. A European Peer Review is a mix of internal self-assessment carried out by an education or training provider and external assessment carried out by a group of evaluators called Peers. Hence, this methodology is based on an active involvement of different actors such as education and training providers, Peers and other key stakeholders, from which both the reviewed provider and the Peers can benefit.

The focus of the European Peer Review methodology lies on the promotion of a quality culture of continuing improvement, mutual learning, trust and openness. Therefore, the active participation of all the actors is fundamental and creates a development atmosphere for quality assurance in teaching and learning contexts where social justice is crucial.

The methods and instruments used in EQAVET Peer Reviews are common also in General Education systems, as the self-assessment tools of European schools are often in line with the EQAVET Framework. These tools are also mainly based on specific quality criteria, indicators and descriptors supporting equitable education systems.

From 2019 to 2022, a qualitative research about an integrated Peer Review – involving both schools belonging to General Education and vocational centres operating in Regional VET systems - was carried out by INAPP. Through this national research, innovative integrated tools were elaborated by merging the European Peer Review instruments with the National Evaluation System tools. The new integrated method, based on common quality criteria and indicators, was piloted through a national network. In total 14 Peer Review visits were hosted and more than 50 Peers - manly teachers and trainers - were involved in the National experimentation that included three different Italian Regions.

During the piloting, the overlapping and redundancy of Quality Assurance tools and methods in different education and training settings created the condition for an in-depth refection on the role and functions of quality measures in schools and VET centres and on how all the quality measures in place can face inequities among different systems.

Starting from the results of the national experimentation, this paper shows how the Peer Review methodology can support the development and enhancement of quality in Education and Training. Moreover, the experimentation has allowed to define the key principles for ensuring that the EQAVET Peer Review methodology is flexibility and agile in different learning settings where it adapts swiftly to diverse training needs and provides quality learning opportunities, fostering social justice. Finally, the research outcomes place a strong focus on the increased synergies created by an integrated approach of self-assessment tools (such as the European Peer Review ones), reinforcing the idea to further explore all those opportunities that allow to improve this methodology in order to enhance equity and inclusion through the existing quality assurance tools.