Conference Program

The increasing complexity of neurodiversity in contemporary classrooms poses significant challenges to educational equity and social justice. In the Italian context, the traditional approach to inclusion has often relied on ethical principles and generic pedagogical care, sometimes lacking the technical frameworks required to address severe behavioral and developmental needs effectively. This gap frequently impacts teachers' emotional well-being and professional agency, leading to feelings of inadequacy and burnout when facing complex educational scenarios.

This contribution presents the conceptual framework, implementation strategy, and early outcomes of "Scuola Capace" (Capable School), a large-scale national professional development project funded by the European Union (NextGenerationEU) under the Italian National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR). Led by the Comprehensive Institute "Francesco Dimo" (Taviano, Italy) as the lead institution, the project established a massive network of over 100 schools across the country, aiming to train 315 educational professionals (teachers, educators, and school staff).

The core purpose of the project is to shift the inclusive paradigm from "generic welcoming" to "competent inclusion" by equipping school personnel with evidence-based practices derived from Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA). Specifically, the training aligns with the Registered Behavior Technician (RBT®) framework, adapted for the public school ecosystem.

The methodology involves a 50-hour asynchronous active e-learning path that transcends traditional transmissive models. It incorporates video-modeling, branching scenarios, and practical simulations of behavioral interventions, data collection, and functional assessment. This model is designed to be highly scalable and permanently accessible through a digital "Repository of Inclusion," ensuring long-term sustainability and continuous professional development beyond the project's lifecycle.

Within the education-democracy nexus, this initiative argues that true democratic schooling is achieved only when teachers possess the technical capacity and professional agency to guarantee equitable learning opportunities for all students, particularly the most vulnerable. By mastering evidence-based strategies, teachers move from a state of emergency management to proactive educational design.

This paper will discuss the organizational challenges of managing a massive inter-institutional network, the pedagogical implications of integrating behavioral sciences into the Italian inclusive tradition, and the potential of targeted, high-level professional development to foster a deeply democratic, neurodivergent-friendly school environment. Ultimately, the "Scuola Capace" model demonstrates how systemic policy funding can be leveraged to build grassroots professional capacity, transforming the abstract right to education into a concrete, measurable, and inclusive daily practice.