Conference Program

Early school leaving is increasingly understood as the outcome of intertwined educational, social and cultural processes, calling for systemic approaches that connect schools with territorial resources and non-formal educational services (European Commission, 2020; Pandolfi, 2017; Save the Children, 2025). Yet, in many contexts, schools struggle to recognize after-school settings as a pedagogical infrastructure, often treating them as ancillary support (Jilink, Leseman, Slot & Gevers, 2025). This paper addresses this tension by focusing on the professional learning of pre-service primary teachers and their capacity to “see” and interpret didactic processes occurring beyond the classroom (Passalacqua, 2022), with specific attention to peer tutoring practices in a community-based service.

The study is situated in San Siro (Milan), within the “L’ABC del quartiere” service, a polyfunctional educational centre aimed at preventing educational vulnerability and supporting learning in a complex multicultural area. The service is managed by a multidisciplinary team, under the scientific supervision of Prof. Zecca (University of Milan-Bicocca) and educators and student-teachers get involved through internship pathways and community service learning programs (Fredella, 2025; Zecca 2024).

In line with previous work on individualized tutoring in ABC (Cotza, Coacci, Fredella, 2025), the focus is on tutoring interactions as intentional dialogic practices that support learning through scaffolding, co-construction of meaning, and the mediation between formal school demands and meaningful educational activities.

We examine a training experiment within the third-year course “Metodologia della Ricerca Pedagogica” (Primary Teacher Education, University of Milano-Bicocca). Students carried out structured fieldwork in ABC (and other non-formal settings), combining an online briefing, a guided visit with agreed documentation, interviews with key actors, and a short research report focused on peer tutoring and the educational meaning of the school–after-school relationship.

Data include explicitation interviews with ABC coordinators, course instructors, and approximately 12 participating students. A thematic analysis examines (1) students’ initial representations of after-school services, (2) shifts in beliefs about learning, vulnerability and agency emerging from boundary crossing, and (3) students’ recognition of after-school tutoring as didactic work that can be supported, translated and connected to schooling.

Results indicate a reframing trajectory rather than a sharp conversion: students’ initial tendency to interpret after-school mainly as homework support progressively expands towards a more articulated understanding of peer tutoring as situated pedagogy, in which relationships, dialogic mediation and pupils’ agency are seen as educational levers that can sustain engagement and continuity between learning environments.

We outline three practical implications: strengthen research-based placements in non-formal settings as guided inquiry (not simple visits) to build a shared language with community services. Sharpen the didactic focus through systematic observation tools targeting tutoring moves (tasks, scaffolding, feedback, participation). Finally, involve young peer tutors as co-informants, inviting them to narrate and explain their practices to make tacit strategies visible and foster school–after-school dialogue.