Conference Program

This paper examines education as a site of harm regulation, political control, and legitimacy-making under shifting systems of governance, drawing on an in-depth life-history interview with a senior educator and school director in Afrin, a district in northwest Syria that has experienced successive regimes of authority from Syrian state institutions, to Kurdish self-administration, and, since 2018, Turkish-backed armed factions. These transitions profoundly restructured the local school system, transforming education into a frontline arena of governance rather than a stable public service (Mampilly 2011; Arjona 2016).

Anchored in the analytical framework of the Beyond Compliance Consortium (BCC), the paper analyzes educational practices through four interlinked lenses: harm, need, restraint, and legitimacy, developed to explain civilian protection and governance in contexts where legal enforcement is fragmented or absent (Kemp et al. 2023). This framework allows education to be examined not as a neutral service, but as a regulatory space in which violence, protection, and authority are negotiated.

Empirically, the paper shows how schooling in Afrin became a mechanism through which harm was both produced and contested. Forced curricular changes, language segregation, loss of recognized certification, and the intrusion of armed actors into schools generated educational harm that translated into displacement, family flight, and long-term erosion of trust. At the same time, schools emerged as spaces of acute need, particularly for children exposed to forced recruitment, ethnic discrimination, and the collapse of institutional protection (Novelli, Lopes Cardozo & Smith 2017).

The analysis highlights the role of educators as de facto harm regulators. Through informal negotiation, selective compliance, and refusal, such as resisting the removal of students for military purposes or contesting arbitrary administrative orders, school leaders enacted forms of restraint grounded in moral authority rather than institutional power. In this context, legitimacy did not derive from armed control or formal governance structures, but from the perceived capacity to protect children and preserve educational continuity amid political volatility (Suchman 1995; Hoffmann & Kirk 2013).

By centering an educator’s trajectory across changing regimes, the paper demonstrates that education in Afrin functions as a semi-autonomous field in which governance is enacted through everyday decisions about access, language, discipline, and certification (Moore 1973). These micro-practices expose the limits of policy-driven compliance models and show how harm prevention and restraint emerge from localized moral authority rather than centralized control. The paper contributes to debates on democracy and learning by reframing education in conflict settings as a core site of political regulation, legitimacy production, and civilian protection

Over the past decades, career guidance has undergone profound conceptual and institutional transformations. Changes in the organization of work and the globalization of economies have reshaped both the nature of careers and the expectations placed on individuals navigating education and labor markets. Within this context, career development theories have progressively evolved from models based on stable and linear trajectories toward frameworks emphasizing adaptability, lifelong learning, and self-directed career management (Marcarini, 2012). This paper examines the relationship between career development theory and guidance policies in the European and Italian contexts. Drawing on a review of relevant literature and a qualitative analysis of policy documents across the multilevel governance, the study investigates the extent to which policy frameworks reflect, or diverge from, theoretical developments in the field. The analysis is structured around three key analytical dimensions: definitions, aims, and beneficiaries of career guidance.

From a theoretical perspective, the evolution of career development theory is interpreted in relation to broader socio-economic transformations (Boland, 2024): the transition from relatively stable labor markets (Adlya & Zola, 2022) to more flexible and precarious employment regimes has contributed to the emergence of concepts such as boundaryless (Arthur & Rousseau, 1996) and protean careers (Hall, 1996), as well as renewed emphasis on career adaptability, reflexivity, and identity construction. While these frameworks have been presented as empowering individuals to navigate complex life trajectories, critical perspectives (Hooley, 2022; Aldrovandi et al., 2024; Sultana, 2022; Thomsen & Hooley, 2022) highlight how they also reflect neoliberal shifts that relocate responsibility for career management from institutions and organizations to individuals.

The policy analysis focuses on European lifelong guidance frameworks and Italian national and regional guidance policies. Findings show important areas of convergence between theory and policy: both conceptualize career guidance as a lifelong process, emphasize individual agency and adaptability, and frame guidance as a key component of lifelong learning. At the same time, significant tensions emerge: while literature increasingly emphasizes identity development, reflexivity, and social justice (Tomlinson et al., 2018; Hooley & Sultana, 2016), policy frameworks tend to prioritize employability, workforce activation, and alignment with labor market needs. As a result, theoretically rich concepts are often translated into more instrumental policy objectives linked to economic competitiveness and human capital development.

To explore how these dynamics unfold in practice, the paper presents the case study of #Orientati, a career guidance initiative implemented by the Veneto Region and financed through European Social Fund resources. The case illustrates how theory-informed policy principles can be translated into concrete guidance interventions through territorial networks involving schools, training providers, employment services, and local stakeholders. At the same time, it highlights how institutional mandates, sectoral governance structures, and broader neoliberal policy frameworks shape the practical implementation of guidance initiatives.

The paper concludes that bridging the gap between theory, policy, and practice requires stronger dialogue between scholars, policymakers, and practitioners. Such collaboration is essential to ensure that career guidance systems support not only labor market integration but also the development of meaningful, sustainable, and socially inclusive career trajectories.

Across Europe, higher education systems are increasingly shaped by global mobility, yet institutional frameworks often struggle to recognise the prior educational trajectories of students with migrant and refugee backgrounds. Despite the principles enshrined in the UNESCO Global Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications concerning Higher Education (2019), recognition procedures remain lengthy, opaque, and unevenly implemented. This contributes to processes of deskilling and cultural-capital devaluation, limiting migrants’ educational continuity and reinforcing patterns of exclusion already documented in European contexts (Pastore et al. 2023; Scardigno et al. 2019). Universities thus emerge as ambivalent arenas: while they may reproduce structural inequalities, they can also function as strategic spaces for democratic inclusion and capability expansion (Nussbaum 2000).

Adopting an intersectional and critical perspective (Crenshaw, 1989), this paper analyses the experiences of migrant and refugee women who completed or partially completed university studies in their countries of origin and subsequently sought recognition or continuation of their studies in Italy and Greece. The research compares two institutional contexts: in the Apulia region (Italy), participants were refugee students enrolled in university programmes; in the Attica region (Greece), participants were women holding foreign university degrees but largely excluded from the higher education system due to complex and opaque credential-recognition procedures.

The study draws on 18 qualitative case studies conducted through focused interviews (Merton, Fiske & Kendall, 1956): 10 refugee students reached through the Learning Centre (CAP) at the University of Bari Aldo Moro (affiliated with the RUIAP network) and 8 refugee women in Greece contacted through local NGOs. The differing recruitment channels already signal a structural divergence: while the Italian context provides university-based inclusion mechanisms, the Greek case highlights the absence of institutionalised academic support structures for non-European migrants. This contrast enables an exploration of how national and institutional arrangements shape educational justice in practice.

The interviews reconstructed participants’ migration trajectories, previous socio-economic conditions, educational backgrounds, professional aspirations, and experiences of discrimination. Gendered inequalities, racialisation processes, unpaid care responsibilities, and experiences of gender-based violence emerged as crucial intersecting factors influencing access to higher education. Findings reveal recurring administrative and legal barriers, language obstacles, and institutional rigidities in credential recognition. In Italy, despite bureaucratic complexities, access to university enrolment functioned as an intermediary mechanism capable of reactivating agency and fostering academic belonging. Academic participation allowed some women to renegotiate their identities as students and professionals, partially counteracting dynamics of downgrading. In Greece, conversely, the opacity and restrictiveness of recognition procedures generated widespread disillusionment, often leading women to redefine their professional aspirations outside academic pathways.

The comparison highlights how universities may either mitigate or reinforce inequalities affecting students with migrant backgrounds. When institutional arrangements provide structured inclusion pathways, higher education can operate as a site of democratic negotiation between equality and difference, enabling self-determination and social participation. Conversely, when recognition systems remain exclusionary, educational injustice risks becoming naturalised. By foregrounding refugee women’s experiences, this contribution speaks to broader debates on educational justice, intersectionality, and the democratic role of universities in increasingly diverse societies.

Amidst social change and the growing fragility of educational roles, the relationship between schools and families is crucial for supporting the development of younger generations and strengthening the democratic nature of the school system. However, this relationship is not guaranteed. Rather, it is often marked by ambivalence. Alongside experiences of trust and collaboration, there are also communication difficulties, misunderstandings, and a sense of distance between teachers and parents.

In light of these challenges, it is crucial to reevaluate the ways in which families and schools interact and collaborate, creating new opportunities for dialogue. With this in mind, a research-training project was undertaken during the 2024/2025 academic year in a primary school belonging to a comprehensive institute in the province of Brescia.

Entitled “School and Family: Towards a Shared Educational Partnership”. the project involved first-grade teachers and parents. The project aimed to enable teachers and parents to get to know one another and collaborate using a co-design methodology, build a school-family relationship that informs educational choices and actions taken by parents and teachers alike, and support the children's growth and development in a positive way.

The project was introduced during a school assembly at the beginning of the academic year and was followed by bimonthly meetings between teachers and parents, as well as a final session in May. Teachers and parents worked together in groups to identify educational goals and define appropriate behaviors in response to emerging challenges.

The research team monitored the process by holding regular meetings with the teachers. During these sessions, the teachers received support through active methodologies and techniques such as the "Wall of Wonders," the "Educational Cultures Table," and "Spaces for Participation." These techniques were designed to foster mutual exchange and reflection. The final assembly provided an opportunity to evaluate the overall process.

This collaborative experience facilitated dialogue between the educational cultures of the school and the family. It allowed participants to experience educational coherence through shared commitments.

This paper aims to present the process activated through the research-training project, the methods and techniques employed, and the outcomes achieved.

Within initial training programmes for future educators, increasing attention is being paid to enabling students to develop a clear awareness of the professional roles they will undertake upon completion of their academic studies (Popov, 2020). This issue becomes particularly relevant in a context characterised by a growing crisis in the educational sector: despite the significant demand for educators within educational services, recruiting qualified staff is becoming increasingly difficult (Premoli, 2024). Supporting students in the transition from higher education to the labour market therefore requires the development of a personal “toolkit” enabling them to interpret professional contexts, design their own professional trajectories, and critically reflect on the experiences they encounter (Gambacorti-Passerini, 2019; Salerni, 2016). Within this perspective, the concept of lifelong guidance becomes central, and the internship represents a key educational context in which such processes can take place. As both an orientation device and a setting for the development of professional competences—and particularly as an in-between space (Mele et al., 2021)—the internship offers a privileged opportunity for students to gain awareness of the competences required of educators and of the complexity of educational practice.
This contribution aims to explore how specific pedagogical and organisational tools within internship programmes can foster students’ agency, reflexivity, and awareness of the educational profession, while also strengthening collaboration between the university and local educational services.
Within the internship pathway of the University of Parma, an organisational context analysis tool was introduced in the academic year 2023–2024 in order to promote an active and inquiry-oriented stance among students during their placements. The instrument supports students in analysing the organisational characteristics of the services hosting interns, including management structures and the types of services provided within the local area. In addition, to strengthen orientation processes before the internship experience, Open Days dedicated to the exploration of educational services were organised during the academic years 2024–2025 and 2025–2026 in collaboration with host organisations in the Parma area. Data were collected through the organisational analysis tool and through student satisfaction questionnaires related to the Open Day initiatives.
Preliminary findings suggest that the organisational analysis tool supports students in developing a more analytical understanding of the contexts in which they undertake their placements and encourages reflective engagement with organisational and professional dimensions of educational work. Furthermore, the Open Day initiatives appear to facilitate more informed and conscious choices regarding internship contexts, while also strengthening dialogue between the university and local educational services.
The study highlights the importance of designing internship pathways as reflective and participatory learning environments that support students’ agency and professional awareness. Moreover, the collaboration between universities and local organisations emerges as a key factor in fostering meaningful orientation processes and in promoting a continuous exchange between academic training and professional practice.