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Conference Program

Overview and details of the sessions of this conference. Please select a date or location to show only sessions at that day or location. Please select a single session for detailed view (with abstracts and downloads if available).

Daily Overview

Session

D.08. Practices of Freedom in Democratic Schooling: Policies, Reflections and Actions to Prevent and Counteract Early School Leaving (2/2)
Location: Scienze Politiche (CU002): Aula 201

Convenor(s): Luisa Zecca (University of Milan-Bicocca, Italy); Francesca Davoli (Universitat de Vic – Universitat Central de Catalunya)

Presentation 1

"Did You Eat at School?" Action Research with Ethnographic Nature on Full-time Schooling in a Context with High School Dropout Rates

Noemi Giulia Dicorato

University of Bologna, Italy

State of the art

Food poverty in Italy is a growing phenomenon. 10% of families are unable to provide their children with a balanced diet (Openpolis, 2023). School canteens play a central role in fighting food poverty (Osservatorio Italiano sui Conti Pubblici & Save the Children Italia Onlus, 2023). Food consumption has a multidimensional connotation: it is a central element for cultural expression and identity, but also an educational opportunity. Research shows a considerable gap between the presence of school canteens in northern and southern Italy, as well as between different types of schools: 55.2% of primary school pupils have access to them, compared to 10.5% of lower secondary school pupils (Save the Children, 2024). The National Action Plan for the implementation of the Child Guarantee in Italy links school canteens to educational poverty because school hours - which are modified by the presence of the canteen service - can make a difference in fighting early school leaving. Full-time schooling - whose initial goal was to try to respond to social emergencies - does not necessarily bring a change (Ferrero, 2023), but it is an opportunity to examine food education and rethink school design (Oliviero, 2022), while it is often considered a “suspended time” that is not always consistent with teaching and educational interactions (Messere & Nicolini, 2019).

Objectives
The research project examines the role of school canteens within school time and is part of a PNRR project. For this purpose a research group in the field of pedagogy and anthropology has been set up by the Department of Education Sciences of the University of Bologna. The research involved a lower secondary school class at the IC Melissa Bassi school in Rome.

Research design and methodology
The PhD project used the methodology of participatory action research with ethnographic nature. The process involved workshops and focus groups between teachers, pupils and families, with the aim of identifying problems and possible strategies for improving lunchtime and full-time schooling, giving rise to a participatory design process (Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 2009). The key aspects were the discussion between different “points of view” and the use of specific tools, such as focus groups, interviews, observations, workshops, able to give voice to the experiences of those involved (Zecca, 2016).

Results
The proposal for full-time schooling in lower secondary school arose from observations made by the school management, which clearly showed that for some pupils, the school canteen was the only place where they could eat a proper meal. Despite this, the canteen service was not structured as a service designed for lower secondary school. Analysis of the data collected showed the need to recognize the school canteen and full-time schooling as an area for rethinking. Together with the teachers of the class involved, we focused on experimenting a teaching technique, which aimed at promoting the active participation of pupils in co-design: Celestin Freinet's class assembly. Some of the topics on the agenda of the first assemblies regarded the furnishings of the canteen, the tables clearing and the organization of the school time in the afternoon.