Conference Program

In contemporary post-democratic contexts, democratic institutions formally persist while meaningful participation is hollowed out. Schools reflect this condition: student representation often operates symbolically, participatory routines remain procedural, and performance-oriented cultures marginalize dialogic engagement. The key question, therefore, is not only whether schools teach democracy, but whether they are organised democratically.

Grounded in the Student Voice framework (Cook-Sather, 2020; Welty & Lundy, 2013) and democratic education traditions inspired by Dewey (2000), this paper presents findings from La scuola siamo noi! (“We Are the School!”), developed within the PNRR-MUSA initiative (2023–2025) in three upper secondary schools in Milan. Conceived as a participatory research pathway, the project positioned students and teachers as co-inquirers, recognising students as epistemic agents and legitimate stakeholders in school improvement and governance (Pastori & Pagani, 2025).

In its first year, an explanatory sequential mixed-methods design (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2007) combined a survey on school climate, voice, and participation (2023/24) with eleven focus groups aimed at deepening students’ experiences of recognition, influence, and marginalisation. In the second year (2024/25), mixed student–teacher groups engaged in participatory research pathways to co-develop and experiment with proposals for school improvement, transforming the project into a democratic laboratory.

Findings reveal tensions between formal participatory structures and students’ limited impact on decision-making. Participation remains largely consultative, constrained by bureaucratic and hierarchical cultures. Yet the research process itself functioned as a democratic micro-practice, fostering relational shifts, organisational experimentation, and enhanced agency.

Democratic renewal in schools requires more than fostering civic competences (Learning for Democracy); it demands organisational reconfiguration so that democracy becomes an organising principle of school life (Democracy for Learning) (Dewey, 2000; Gollob et al., 2010).