Conference Program

In recent years, the growing diversification of European educational contexts has raised new challenges for socio-educational services working with children and families with migrant backgrounds. In such contexts, building inclusive educational environments requires approaches capable of recognising different actors - children, parents, and educators - as subjects who possess knowledge, experiences, and resources, overcoming adult-centred and deficit-based perspectives still present in educational systems. In this perspective, participatory and creative methodologies represent valuable tools for fostering shared knowledge production and processes of educational co-design (Reason and Bradbury 2008; Kemmis, McTaggart, and Nixon 2014).

This contribution presents the preliminary results of a participatory action research study carried out within the DREAM project (promoted by Fondazione Cometa and ISMU) at the after-school educational centre “Il Manto” in the city of Como, a territory characterised by a significant presence of families with migrant backgrounds. The centre hosts children attending primary and lower secondary school, many of whom are children of immigrants or belong to so-called second-generation migrant families.

The research developed in two phases. The first aimed to produce a shared understanding of the educational needs emerging within the centre’s context. Qualitative and participatory tools were employed, including focus groups with educators and parents, expressive workshops with children, and semi-structured interviews with key territorial stakeholders. The use of expressive and multimodal activities with children draws on research perspectives recognising children as competent social actors and active participants in knowledge production processes (Clark and Moss 2011; Christensen and James 2017). In parallel, a socio-demographic analysis of the children attending the centre was conducted, highlighting a highly multicultural group characterised by different forms of social and educational vulnerability.

The results revealed several cross-cutting themes, including the importance of safe and structured educational spaces, the role of extracurricular experiences in children’s development, the difficulties faced by families with migrant backgrounds in supporting children’s schoolwork, and the need to strengthen relationships among educators, families, schools, and local actors. In this sense, the after-school centre emerges as an intermediate educational space supporting children’s learning pathways and social integration in migration contexts, contributing to more inclusive and intercultural educational environments.

The second phase initiated a participatory action process aimed at transforming the needs identified in the first phase into shared educational intervention pathways. Through participatory meetings involving educators, parents, and other local actors, three thematic working groups were established: support for learning and homework, promotion of intercultural practices, and strengthening educational alliances between families, schools, and local services. Activities based on dialogical methodologies and creative tools (role-playing, collage, guided discussions) fostered the sharing of experiences and perspectives, opening spaces for collective reflection and co-design.

The paper discusses the value of participatory and creative methodologies in promoting participants’ empowerment and supporting the development of more democratic educational environments. Involving children, parents, and educators in knowledge production and in defining educational actions allows recognition of the competences present within educational communities and contributes to practices more responsive to the cultural diversity of contemporary societies.