Conference Program

Like many other countries in Europe, Italy is experiencing a period of large-scale migration, facing the challenges of an increasingly multicultural society (Di Rosa & Allegri, 2022). The children of migrant families (not only first-generation but also second-generation) face greater difficulties at school than their Italian-speaking peers, mainly due to language barriers, socio-cultural disadvantages and other factors preventing integration and inclusion (Dusi, Steinbach, & Falcon, 2014; Cavioni, Conte, & Ornaghi, 2024). In the school-family relationship, migrant parents face many difficulties in relating to school bodies and teachers (Mantovani & Gasperoni, 2018; Santagati & Colussi, 2024).

This contribution aims to present the initial findings of an experience and research carried out by a multifunctional educational centre, “L’ABC del quartiere”, which works since September 2022 in a very complex urban area, San Siro, Milan (Grassi, 2022), as part of the MUSA project - Multilayered Urban Sustainability Action, Spoke 6, Task 3.1.3 “Contrasting and prevention of Early School Leaving in disadvantaged urban neighbourhoods” (Zecca, Fredella, & Cotza, 2024). The center adopts an ecological-systemic approach (Bronfenbrenner, 2005) and has as its main goal to prevent school dropout by welcoming children aged between 0 and 13 and their families (mainly mothers), almost all Arabic speakers. Children aged 0 to 7 are welcomed into the Play Space, with laboratories and play activities; children aged 8 to 13 are welcomed in the Study Support Space, where they find individualized tutoring (Cotza, Coacci, & Fredella, 2025); a third area is dedicated to mothers, who are offered an Italian L2 course.

The Study Support Space offers personalized interventions and foster and support the school-family relationship, organizing meetings with teachers from the schools attended by the children (5 lower secondary schools and 6 primary schools) and supporting families in communication and during school-family meetings (since the 2024/2025 s.y.). The contribution aims to analyze how the center has structured this relationship with schools and how this process has been experienced and perceived by the mothers. To this end, a research diary was kept on the meetings with schools, and non-directive, semi-structured interviews were conducted from February 2026 with ABC mothers who have school-age children (16). The aim is not only to investigate mothers’ perceptions and experiences of their children’s schools, but also to understand whether and to what extent the processes implemented in the center provide concrete support to local communities in terms of school management and level of trust in institutions.

An initial analysis, through reflective thematic approach (Braun & Clarke, 2021), profiled L’ABC as a bridge between the demands of the school, which are often unattainable for migrant families, and the needs of families facing major economic and socio-cultural challenges. The systemic work carried out by L’ABC seems to be successful in establishing a constant and productive dialogue between schools and parents, supporting communication and access to services from a democratic perspective. The voices of mothers is revealing experiences of great loneliness and barriers in their relationship with the school, which require cultural mediation and support for integration processes.