Conference Program

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.

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.

In contemporary democratic societies, linguistic education represents a key lever for social inclusion and for preventing processes of marginalization that may lead to educational and occupational exclusion. Within this framework, Italian as a second language (L2) education for adults assumes a strategic role in supporting migrants and vulnerable learners in accessing meaningful learning and employment pathways. The present contribution, grounded in the theoretical field of adult L2 Italian didactics (Serragiotto, 2020; Adorno et al., 2017; Balboni, 2013) and lifelong learning (Knowles, 1984; Di Rienzo, 2015), views language competence as a crucial condition for participation, agency, and active citizenship.

In light of this premise, the study aims to explore how targeted L2 Italian educational interventions can enhance adult learners’ linguistic competences to support their educational and professional integration and reduce the risk of NEET conditions. Particular attention is devoted to the role of pedagogical innovation in CPIA contexts as a means of fostering equitable learning opportunities for linguistically and socio-culturally diverse adults.

In order to reach its objectives, the study, grounded into pragmatical worldview (Peirce, 2003), adopts a qualitative method (Creswell, 2009) and a collaborative research methodology (Desgagné, 1997), developed through the training and supervised involvement of two pre-service teachers in Italian L2 didactics. After a structured preparation phase on adult language education, the two trainees implemented and observed L2 teaching practices within two CPIA contexts in Northern Italy (Como and Varese). The research combined systematic classroom observation, analysis of entry and progress language assessments, and the use of biographical–narrative tools (e.g., linguistic portraits) to capture both cognitive and identity-related dimensions of language learning. The collaborative nature of the study enabled cross-context comparison and reflective triangulation between the two field experiences.

Findings highlight a progressive development of learners’ Italian L2 competences, particularly in functional communication domains relevant to everyday life and work inclusion. Moreover, the data underline the strong interconnection between linguistic progress, learners’ motivational trajectories, and their perceived possibilities for social and professional participation. At the same time, the use of biographical and narrative devices proved especially effective in supporting engagement, identity recognition, and persistence in learning pathways.

Overall, the contribution argues that pedagogically grounded L2 Italian provision can function as a preventive device against processes of social and educational exclusion when embedded in inclusive, learner-centered, and reflexive teaching practices. The findings offer implications for teacher education, adult language policy, and justice-oriented approaches aimed at redesigning educational spaces as sites of democratic belonging and opportunity for adult migrant learners.

This paper aims to examine the phenomenon of school dropout, viewed as the result of a complex interplay of individual, social, economic, and institutional factors that influence, to different extents, the failure, partial participation, or discontinuous participation of young people in the education system (Autorità Garante per l'Infanzia e l'Adolescenza, 2022).

At the national level, there are two main categories of early school leaving: explicit early school leaving, corresponding to the Early Leavers from Education and Training (ELET) rate, which refers to the premature interruption of schooling, and implicit early school leaving, which refers to students who, despite having completed mandatory schooling, do not achieve adequate competence levels in key areas of knowledge.

Starting in 2019, Italy implemented an integrated system for monitoring implicit early leaving, based on the National Student Registry, established by the Ministry of Education, and on periodic standardized surveys by INVALSI (Invalsi, 2024), which allow for the objective measurement of the degree of acquisition of basic skills by the school population. At the same time, the national picture is characterized by the significant presence of so-called NEETs (Not in Education, Employment or Training), young people aged between 15 and 29 who are not in education, training, or employment.

According to the most recent available data from Eurostat (Eurostat, 2024), the incidence of NEETs in Italy (aged 15–29) will be 15.2%, confirming the country's second place in the EU, after Romania. This situation highlights a twofold systemic problem: on the one hand, the high rate of early school leaving; on the other, the persistent mismatch between the skills acquired and those required by the labor market.

In proposing a critical pedagogical interpretation of the relationship between educational poverty and NEET status, this paper focuses on NEET status not as an individual failure or personal choice, but as the systemic outcome of cumulative processes of educational vulnerability: fragmentation of educational environments, weakening of local networks, and insufficient integration of guidance systems and school-to-work transition pathways.

From a perspective of democratic education and educational justice, focus groups are presented, carried out in the Campania Region (Vegliante & Coppola, 2024), which involved a group of experts (teachers, operators from employment centres, counselors from CPIA) from which emerge how educational poverty is therefore interpreted not only as a risk factor, but as a priority field of pedagogical and political intervention for the construction of paths of empowerment, capacity building and active citizenship, aimed at addressing inequalities and promoting inclusive and democratic social trajectories.

Educational poverty is a critical dimension of child poverty; by depriving children of equal opportunities, it creates economic, social, and cultural gaps that are often difficult to bridge (Meo, Unicef, 2022). As a multidimensional concept encompassing both cognitive and non-cognitive aspects , and drawing on the Capability Approach (Sen, 1997), educational poverty represents a fundamental deprivation of a child's opportunity to learn, experiment, and realize their potential.

To address this, the 2020–2021 Italian School Plan introduced the "Community Education Pact", a strategy designed to strengthen the education system by mobilizing local territorial resources. This paper analyzes the multi-year implementation of such a Pact at the Spirito Santo Comprehensive Institute in Cosenza (Calabria, Italy). The research adopts a qualitative methodology, utilizing monitoring documentation, semi-structured interviews with third-sector practitioners and school leadership, focus groups with teachers, and direct observation of co-design meetings.

The Pact, "Noi di CUSE’ – Costruire Un Sogno Educativo," now in its fifth year, emerged from a synergy between school management and local associations, involving the University of Calabria and various third-sector actors (Licursi, Marcello, 2025). The intervention aimed to transform the school into an open educational space for the entire neighborhood, though it faced significant hurdles, such as limited engagement from the local Municipality.

The research focuses on two guiding questions: Has the Pact successfully fostered the construction of an "educating community"? And has it shifted the professional awareness of school and association staff regarding the co-definition of interventions against educational poverty?. Findings reveal a complex landscape: while critical issues persist—particularly in maintaining co-design logic as the number of actors and resources increases—significant positive shifts have emerged. These include a transition in teacher attitudes from initial wariness to active collaboration, the repositioning of the school as a hub for family participation, and the enhanced ability of practitioners to intervene in school dropout through community outreach and co-presence in the classroom.

Children have an innate interest in exploring and learning from their immediate environment (Dewey, 2004; Gopnick, 2012). However, the role of educators in their settings is fundamental to be able to channel their interests and help develop the children’s skills related to understanding their environments and to promote participation in the construction of meaning (Haldon et al. 2022). In this sense, educators have a fundamental role in adapting their settings to transform the innate curiosity of children into learning opportunities that promote their autonomous agency and understanding of surrounding phenomena. However, the didactic proposals and stations in free-choice pedagogical spaces, especially in the field of science/STEM, are not always appropriate or accessible to all children, given visible and invisible barriers and bias that may cause the dissafection of children in vulnerability risk situation in relation to their learning processes (Glockengiesser et al, 2023; Booth & Ainscow, 2002; Pedreira et al., 2025 ). Thus, offering free-choice accessible and inclusive science learning environments with a universal design (UD) perspective, free from prejudice and based on equity, are essential to avoid exclusion in the field of science for groups at risk of vulnerability and especially girls due to the gender gap in the STEM fields. Due to this and to cover a gap in this field the Impactlab project (PID2022-139472OA-I00 Generación del conocimiento, I+D) from the Faculty of Social Sciences of Manresa (Uvic-UCC) has designed an online self-assessment Toolkit so that educators and teachers can detect the degree of inclusive adequacy of their science spaces. One of the goals of the toolkit is to promote the teacher’s self-awareness and to encourage a more reflective adult perspective in supporting autonomous learning processes for all children despite the different needs, backgrounds and competences of children so to keep them engaged in the different pedagogical settings and stages in ECEC and afterwards. This study presents the preliminary results collected in Spanish and Catalan educational centers, at the early childhood education stage regarding the responses from this toolkit oriented to the design of inclusive science spaces in schools in ECEC. The preliminary results will be discussed and recommendations will be proposed to promote and improve this type of pedagogical spaces to reinforce the pedagogical engagement in science education to all children despite their social backgrounds, needs and capacities and reinforce their engagement with their schooling and learning processes.