Conference Program

Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child offers a pivotal framework for recognizing children not as citizens-in-waiting, but as active political actors within their educational communities. This framework is fundamental to ensuring that rights are not merely stated but effectively practiced (Lundy, 2007). However, formal institutions often prioritize adult-led agendas and rigid hierarchical structures, effectively silencing students’ capability to influence their own educational paths (Ingold, 2018). Recognizing these dynamics is vital for establishing an inclusive environment where children’s perspectives are not just “heard”, but become a primary force in shaping school life (Balloo, 2023; Gupta, 2015; Gutiérrez, 2011).

This ongoing PhD research initiative centers on the co-construction of a “Third Space” (Bhabha, 2004; Tatham, 2025) within a middle school situated in the hinterland of Venice (Italy), a borderland region marked by marginalization and rich sociocultural diversity (Anzaldúa, 1987; hooks, 2009). Rather than a top-down intervention, this project conceptualizes the Third Space as a site of subjectivation—a vibrant arena where students’ lived experiences and institutional school culture intersect and transform one another (Biesta, 2024, 2021). Our objective is to investigate how young people, acting as protagonists of their own development, exercise their agency to reshape knowledge and identity through an ecological perspective (Biesta and Tedder, 2007). We view the school as a space where subjectivation occurs through students’ direct responsibility for decisions that impact their collective future, disrupting the conventional divide between formal education and students’ life-worlds (Ingold, 2018; Rantavuori & Sannino, 2026).

To realize these objectives, we adopt a participatory and horizontal methodology that breaks with traditional “extractivist” research (Mortari, 2016). A series of collaborative activities will engage teachers, students, and stakeholders not as subjects of study, but as co-researchers in shared brainstorming. This year we started the participant observation, the first round of collaborative semi-structured interviews with educational stakeholders, and interactive workshops with students to uncover the essence of the Third Space within this school (Sannino, 2010). The ongoing data analysis identifies both facilitators and potential challenges to sustain a thriving democratic space within the school context, encouraging all participants to critically reflect their interactions and power dynamics (hooks, 1994).

We are dedicated to a longitudinal approach and anticipate our next collaboration with the school community to produce a comprehensive research report. This initiative will culminate in an in-depth podcast that features student reflections, thereby providing a platform to amplify their voices as the primary agents of pedagogical innovation. The ultimate objective of this work is to explore how acknowledging student agency transforms the school and how it contributes to institutional change towards democratic and inclusive learning environments.

At this juncture in our ongoing research, we present our analysis of the initial round of semi-structured interviews, alongside data derived from participant observations. This data encompasses the roles of educational stakeholders, the challenges faced by teachers, the ways in which students experience and navigate the school environment, and preliminary considerations regarding the Third Space within the middle school context.