Conference Program

Can we consider intermediate leadership as a potential promoter of real change in inclusive practices in Italian schools?

This paper aims to answer this question from the perspective of Disability Studies, which emphasizes that:

-in Italian schools, exclusionary practices still exist that refer to paradigms that are considered obsolete (D'Alessio, 2011; Ferri, 2015);

-everyone's actions are guided by their own value framework, and understanding it allows them to recognize existing limitations (Travaglini, 2020);

-there are ethical issues in the approach to disability that must be considered first (Piccioli, 2020).

Intermediate leadership is made up of teachers who support the Headmaster by filling specific roles in areas that each school identifies as significant to its needs. The focus is on teachers with Instrumental Function for Inclusion, who manage all organizational, educational, and teaching aspects related to students with SEN. Specifically, for students with disabilities, they also support special education teachers in designing the Individualized Educational Plan and in defining pathways and experiences related to the Life Project.

These two aspects emerged significantly in the results of an exploratory study conducted in the Specialization Course for Support Teachers at the University of Parma (IX edition). Trainee support teachers, asked in a specific structured Workshop, shared their views on the role of the Instrumental Function, describing them as "expert" and capable of sharing a "culture of inclusion" with the professional community, which they recognized as specific to each school.

This “culture of inclusion”, considered in conjunction with the lack of a unified regulatory profile and the absence of a specific training program, highlights the urgent need to further investigate this role, which remains defined only in each “Piano dell’Offerta Formativa” (in which each school discloses its organizational choices based on identified needs).

Specific training programs, based on the Disability Studies perspective, would:

-direct interest in the true potential of the Instrumental Function role;

-accompany those in the role towards an informed reflection on the implications of their choices;

-overcome the disparities that still represent an obstacle to the development of a quality school (D'Alessio, 2015);

-support the attention of teachers who hold these roles to their own framework of values.

A training program would promote a vision of the role of the Instrumental Function teacher as an "ally" (Oliver, 1990) of people with disabilities, who can therefore act according to specific beliefs (Barton, 2011), making choices and promoting practices capable of transforming cultures (Booth & Ainscow, 2014), and developing inclusive education from a Disability Studies perspective (Piccioli, 2020).

The research, though conducted in a limited context, confirmed that teachers share the idea that this role is a strategic for inclusion, for example in supporting planning for students with disabilities.

Recognizing the potential of intermediate leadership in improving inclusion means reaffirming that change is a process that must be supported. Incorporating Disability Studies into educational programs would enable this change to be supported anchoring it in pedagogical thinking grounded in solid values ​​and culture (Piccioli, 2025).