Conference Program

In Italy, like other developed countries, the education system faces the challenge of making schools more inclusive and adapted to current social challenges, fostering in particular the integration of children and youth who, for various reasons, are disadvantaged (growing up in vulnerable families or disadvantaged neighborhoods, or being neurodivergent and therefore having specific educational needs). School dropout and poor results in international school tests are the most obvious symptoms of public education’s inability to address the most “problematic students”.

In recent years, a broad national debate has been developed on the need to adopt community pacts at the local level, through collaboration between teachers, families, and civil society associations. Albeit employing different approaches, these initiatives aim to experiment inclusive projects involving students experiencing greater difficulties, by using informal learning techniques, often integrated with conventional classroom teaching activities.

The article reviews main research findings on two inclusive school experiences, both initiated by third sector organizations and inspired by the idea that a community learning strategy can be employed in order to improve the academic careers and civic activation of students who are falling behind. The first is Maestri di Strada, an association of educators founded in the 1990s to provide educational opportunities for street children living in Naples' most difficult neighborhoods. La Ricostituente network was created more recently, in 2020, by a social worker with the aim of empowering young people (17-19 years old), including those with traumatic experiences, to express their views on the future of Italy through the rewriting of articles of the Constitution. Drawing on the evidence emerging from the two case studies, carried out with a mix-method research design (narrative interviews with key informants, participant observation and documentation collection), the potential of pedagogical approaches based on cooperative learning, as well as of project and team work, will be explored in depth. Likewise, the genesis of these associative groups and their relationship with educational institutions will be rigorously examined, focusing on another essential factor in making educational practices truly transformative.