Conference Program

The inclusion of people with disabilities and neurodivergent individuals is essential for the functioning of democratic societies. This study takes a mixed qualitative-quantitative approach to investigating the social, cultural, and structural barriers that restrict the democratic participation of students with disabilities and neurodivergences, and to evaluating the effectiveness of inclusive pedagogical practices in secondary school settings. The sample comprises 120 students, divided into an experimental group who participated in an inclusive educational programme and a control group with comparable characteristics. Validated quantitative tools were employed, including the Inclusive Education Questionnaire and the Participation and Empowerment Scale. The qualitative element, which involved open-ended questionnaires and thematic analysis using NVivo, explored perceptions of, obstacles to, and potential benefits of inclusive practices. The results showed statistically significant differences between the groups, with an increase in perceived participatory self-efficacy and democratic belonging among students involved in the inclusive programme. These findings highlight the need to rethink education as a democratic space that values difference and promotes cultural and structural accessibility to participation.

This study investigates the potential of gamification in civic education as an inclusive pedagogy aimed at promoting democratic participation in lower secondary schools, with a particular focus on students with physical disabilities and neurodiversities (dyslexia). Within the framework of inclusive pedagogy and participatory democracy, the research adopts a mixed qualitative-quantitative design with an experimental group and a control group. The sample, consisting of approximately 80 Year 7 students (aged 11–12), was involved in a six-week intervention: the experimental group followed a gamified programme designed according to the principles of Universal Design for Learning, while the control group followed the traditional curriculum.
Quantitative data, collected using the Student Engagement Instrument (SEI) and the Self-Efficacy Questionnaire for Children (SEQ-C), show significant increases in engagement and perceived self-efficacy levels in the experimental group, with particularly marked effects among students with special educational needs. Qualitative analysis, based on semi-structured interviews with students and teachers, highlights a strengthening of the sense of belonging, self-esteem and agency, as well as an expansion of opportunities for participation and representation in the classroom.
The results suggest that gamification, if intentionally designed to be inclusive and cooperative, can be configured not as a simple motivational strategy, but as a pedagogical device capable of making civic education a concrete experience of democratic, equitable and participatory citizenship.

Across Europe and in many other countries influenced by new public management, governance by follow-up and evaluation has increased in recent years. In a decentralized school system, such as in Sweden, local educational authorities (LEAs) have substantial responsibility for resource allocation and follow-up, while leadership is shared both within the LEA level between local elected politicians and superintendents and with, in some respects, autonomous principals (Jarl et al., 2024). This creates a multi-tiered leadership landscape in which responsibilities for equity, resource distribution, and school development are negotiated across several layers of governance.

The research to be presented examines perceived possibilities and constraints in LEAs’ systematic quality work (SQW), a legally mandated process in the Swedish Education Act. SQW requires LEAs to follow up on previously allocated resources, analyze results, and propose future interventions intended to support school development. The study approaches SQW from an educational equity perspective, drawing on a definition that holds that all pupils, regardless of ability or background, have the right to learning opportunities and to develop within an education system of equal quality (Ainscow, 2020). Equity in education has proved complex to realise in practice, despite its widely shared objective, in Europe and elsewhere (Leithwood, 2021).

The study adopts an understanding of equity grounded in social justice and fairness attentive to individual circumstances (Espinoza, 2007; Sen, 2009). Drawing on the capability approach developed by Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum, and refined by Lorella Terzi (2007), equitable funding may justify additional provision when necessary to enable pupils with disabilities and special educational needs to participate fully in society. In democratic systems, governance structures are expected to distribute resources to enable such opportunities for all pupils to achieve and experience well-being (Terzi, 2007; 2025). A central challenge, though, is identifying and following up on relevant, not merely measurable, data that can meaningfully inform policymakers’ decisions about resource allocation and interventions that actually meet students’ needs (Swärd & Ramberg, 2026).

The empirical material consists of aggregated quality reports for compulsory schools and reports on strategic objectives and budget plans from 20 Swedish municipalities. In addition, 29 interviews with local politicians and superintendents were conducted across 18 of these municipalities. The material was analyzed using content analysis (Lyhne et al., 2025), guided by neo-institutional theory and sensemaking theory (Smets et al., 2017; Weick, 2005).

Tentative results indicate that the dynamics of shared, distributed, and multi-tiered leadership at the LEA level constitute a crucial component of SQW at the municipal level. These dynamics shape the practices of principals and teachers and influence the conditions for special educational provision and support for students in need. Preliminary findings also suggest a lack of systematic follow-up on the achievements of students with disabilities and special educational needs, as well as limited evaluation of the impact of earlier provisions. Policy-makers are therefore urged to take further action, and researchers to deepen inquiry in this area, including by promoting greater stakeholder involvement, particularly pupils.

Inclusion constitutes a foundational dimension of educational democracy and is rooted in the social and cultural transformations of the 20th century that affirmed every child’s right to full participation in school and social life (Dewey, 1916; 1938; Bruner, 1961, Canevaro, 2006; Fiorucci, 2018).

Within Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) services, this principle translates into the recognition of the child as a citizen from birth: a rights-holder and an active agent in processes of meaning-making and relational construction.

The Italian National Guidelines for the Integrated 0–6 System (2021) and the National Orientations for Early Childhood Services (2022) outline a cultural and pedagogical framework that assigns educational contexts the responsibility to promote quality, equity, and participation, moving beyond a merely adaptive model of inclusion. From this perspective, inclusion does not require children to conform to pre-established organizational structures;; rather, nurseries and preschools are called to reorganize themselves in order to recognize and value differences. Body, care, and play are positioned as privileged spaces for expression, encounter, and the construction of democratic citizenship.

Conceived as a dynamic and participatory process, inclusion requires organizational and cultural structures capable of sustaining reflective and democratic practices within educational teams. In this framework, tools for evaluating and self-evaluating inclusive educational quality do not serve classificatory or compliance-based functions; instead,, they operate as mediating devices that foster dialogue, collective reflection, and the negotiation of meaning (Bondioli, Ferrari, 2000; Freddano, Stringher, 2020), thus supporting the development of professional communities grounded in shared responsibility.

This contribution is based on a narrative review of the national and international literature, aimed at identifying and examining tools for evaluating inclusive quality in ECEC contexts. The bibliographic search focused on the last ten years and was conducted through scientific databases including Google Scholar, Scopus, and ERIC, using keywords such as “evaluation tools, Inclusion Quality Scale, Early Childhood Education, Participation, reflexivity.” Selected instruments targeted 0–6 services, addressed quality from an explicitly inclusive perspective, and were conceived for participatory and reflective use within educational teams.

The identified tools were analyzed through a comparative framework grounded in recurring pedagogical dimensions in the inclusion literature (Booth & Ainscow, 2002; Bellacicco & Dell’Anna, 2022; Canevaro, 2013). The analysis explores their potential to sustain democratic practices, strengthen professional reflexivity, and promote institutional self-transformation.. Findings suggest that such instruments, when embedded in dialogical and participatory processes, can contribute to shaping educational communities that recognize children as citizens from the earliest years of life. In this sense, evaluation emerges not as a technical or neutral procedure, but as a democratic practice capable of nurturing inclusive cultures and reinforcing participation as a structural dimension of early childhood education.

The paper discusses the implications of the model for evaluation and improvement policies, showing how support and documentation mechanisms do not merely perform a supportive function but can also act as tools capable of orienting system regulation and fostering continuous learning. From this perspective, the paper presents the INDIRE support project implemented within the Technological and Vocational Education and Training Pathways (4+2 model) during the 2024/2025 school year. The initiative involved 145 training pathways selected through a call issued by the Italian Ministry of Education and Merit (Circular no. 5299, 28 December 2023). The intervention took place during the transition from the pilot implementation of the 4+2 model to its system-wide institutionalization within the framework established by Law 121/2024 and Decree Law 127/2025, which integrated the model into the national education system and gave it a structural role within the technical and vocational education sector. The project was conceived as an action research process in which policy makers, expert trainers, teachers, ITS Academy staff, and labour market professionals collaborate in curriculum design and implementation within a multilevel governance framework. International literature highlights how action research can foster the transformation of teaching practices, support co-design processes, and strengthen organizational and professional capacity in real contexts (Dahal, 2023; Summak, 2022; Kemmis et al., 2014). It is also recognized as a tool for integrating individual learning and organizational development, enhancing the adaptive capacity of multilevel education systems (Brydon-Miller et al., 2021). The 4+2 model provides an integrated curriculum consisting of four years of upper secondary education (technical, vocational and regional vocational education and training – IeFP) followed by two years at an ITS Academy. The curriculum is developed in collaboration with ITS Academy instructors and labour market professionals and promotes a sector-based approach with strong laboratory-based learning, while maintaining the central role of core and general education subjects. It integrates formal knowledge, technical-professional competences, and situated practices, ensuring vertical continuity and shared responsibility among different education and training systems (Coffield, 2019; Eraut, 2004). The pilot involved policy makers, expert trainers, and training pathways in a process of co-construction and situated adaptation. Documentation produced at different system levels — including planning tools, reflective journals, and interim feedback supported monitoring, regulation, and continuous improvement. Documentation collected by individual pathways also constitutes a repository of practices useful for guiding future implementations. Within this perspective, cascade training is interpreted as a pedagogical and system-building architecture in which policy, curriculum, and professional development become integrated dimensions of a single intervention and research framework. The paper critically examines the potential and limits of this multilevel governance arrangement in supporting improvement, focusing on the organizational and professional conditions that enable — or hinder — the shift from a compliance-oriented logic to a system learning-oriented approach. The 4+2 pathway is therefore proposed as an empirical context for reflecting on the relationship between evaluation, governance, and change in contemporary education policies (OECD, 2022; Hargreaves & Shirley, 2009).