Conference Program

The body is the place where the cultural and political representation of the individual is enacted, and it appears as the product of a rhizomatic system that renders it mutable and polysemic, a material reality made of flesh and bones, but also a construct shaped by clothing, habitus, and symbolic devices. This complexity positions the body in liminal spaces, boundary territories without a defined belonging, where identities and meanings intertwine in hybrid forms. From this emerge different ways of conceptualizing the body: the body-as-matter, bearer of signs open to semiotic interpretation, the lived and embodied body rooted in phenomenological perspectives; the technological and cyber body, as in Haraway’s analyses (1995); the political body in Butler (1993), Arendt (1998), Foucault (1975) and Bauman (1992).

The body becomes a site where power, resistance, and possibilities for transformation are inscribed. This political body becomes a space of rights, expression, and participation inviting us to rethink educational contexts as places where each bodily subjectivity may be recognized, protected, and valued. Educating through and about the body therefore means cultivating democratic practices based on listening and reciprocity. Although dance is not intrinsically political, it acquires political significance when it occupies and transforms cultural and social spaces. Starting from these premises, this contribute investigates the meaning of dance as a political and social practice and explores the pedagogical role of the body and movement in intercultural schools (Massa 1986), in order to understand how dance can contribute to the democratic, critical and relational formation of individuals.

In recent years, well-being at school has been, and continues to be, a pedagogical and educational priority. In line with the objectives of Agenda 2030, it is necessary and urgent to identify barriers, facilitators and methodologies that can guarantee equitable, inclusive and quality education. With this in mind, this study aims to explore the effects of integrated theatre workshops on the wellbeing of pupils, with and without Special Educational Needs (SEN), in the second cycle of primary school in suburban contexts. The study is the result of a collaboration with the Laboratorio Teatrale Integrato Piero Gabrielli, a multidisciplinary organisation based in the Lazio region that runs annual theatre workshops with an integrated and inclusive approach. The research design adopted is quantitative, with experimental groups and pre/post intervention surveys using the Questionari per la valutazione del benessere scolastico e identificazione dei fattori di rischio (Tobia & Marzocchi, 2024). The sample consists of pupils from four schools selected through a public call for applications by the Teatro di Roma, for a total of eight classes belonging to the second cycle of primary school. The identification of this target group was based on two reasons: on the one hand, evidence in the literature suggests that wellbeing tends to decline with the start of secondary school, while on the other hand, we wanted to highlight the intrinsic multimodal and inclusive nature of theatre workshops in peripheral schools, which are often characterised by a high number of pupils with SEN. The data analysis involved the use of descriptive statistics to detect any variations in the overall scores of all the subscales examined; in addition, statistical correlations between the items and the relevant subscales were performed using Pearson’s index. The results show significant changes in all subscales, albeit with differences and methodological limitations typical of pilot studies. However, these results suggest some future prospects that can be outlined to investigate the relationship between the artistic, educational and inclusive dimensions more rigorously.

“Inclusion is a transformative process that ensures the full participation of all children, young people and adults in quality learning opportunities, while respecting and valuing diversity and eliminating all forms of discrimination in and through education.’ Inclusion represents a commitment to making schools and other educational settings places where everyone is valued and belongs and where diversity is seen as enriching” (UNESCO, 2019).

The Italian school system has a long tradition of inclusive education, that began in the 1970s. Since then, legislation has evolved to guarantee students with disabilities and those with other special educational needs the right to personalized education. Law 104/92 establishes the right to education and schooling from birth, guaranteeing the right to education and instruction for persons with disabilities within educational institutions of all levels and types.

Therefore, an inclusive school should put in place all available facilitators and remove any barriers to learning and participation for all students. However, the conception of rights and benefits was rooted in a medical-individual model of disability that remains evident, even in recent legislation, thereby impeding innovation in this area (Ianes, Dremo & Dell’Anna, 2020).

The annual survey 'Scholastic inclusion of students with disabilities' started in 2008 and allows monitoring of various aspects of the inclusion of students with disabilities over time. The survey comprises two parts. The first part is a census addressed to all schools in Italy and aims to assess the more objective aspects of inclusion in the educational/learning offer. The second part is a sample addressed to a sample of students with disabilities representative of the reference population. This part aims to explore students' epidemiological characteristics, the aids used, unmet needs and aspects related to participation. Finally, the survey uses also a set of questions borrowed from the ICF to explore the functioning levels of students with disabilities.

This study uses survey data to analyze the levels of inclusion of students with disabilities within the school context. The aim is to identify the main critical issues still present in the education system and the positive signs and effective practices that foster participation.

Particular attention is devoted to describing the heterogeneity of educational needs that characterizes the school population. Based on information collected on individual students, the study proposes classifying them into homogeneous groups according to types of need and levels of participation. This provides a more systematic interpretation of the data and helps to identify possible intervention pathways.

In the international debate on democratic schooling, inclusive education is widely acknowledged as a prerequisite for equity, participation, and the recognition of every student’s potential. However, research consistently shows a persistent gap between inclusive principles and everyday school practices, contributing to socio-educational inequalities in learning outcomes and participation. In this context, cognitive accessibility emerges as a key pedagogical and ethical condition for transforming inclusion into lived democratic experience.

This contribution presents “AACcessibility”, an ongoing action-research project developed in an Italian lower secondary school, which investigates the role of Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) in fostering equitable participation and democratic engagement within and beyond school settings. Grounded in the professional practice of a specialised support teacher, the project reflects the importance of teachers’ inclusive competences as a driver of systemic change rather than as an individual or compensatory response to disability.

The main aim of “AACcessibility” is to promote a culture of cognitive accessibility by reframing AAC as a universal pedagogical resource. This approach challenges deficit-based models and aligns with inclusive frameworks that emphasise participation, shared responsibility, and recognition of human dignity. From this perspective, the project highlights how inclusive teaching practices can contribute to equity not only for students with special educational needs but for the entire student population.

A central element of the project is a structured collaboration between the school and a local cultural institution in Rome, Palazzo Merulana, exemplifying cross-sectoral co-design and distributed leadership for inclusion. Three eighth-grade classes were involved in the creation of a symbol-based version of the museum catalogue through a multi-phase process: critical reflection on different dimensions of accessibility; experiential learning within the museum environment; linguistic analysis and simplification of specialised texts; translation into symbols using open-source AAC software; and collective metacognitive discussion on communicative and representational choices. This process foregrounded collaboration among students and teachers and positioned learners as active contributors to inclusive cultural production.

Findings from the project suggest that AAC-based inclusive practices can positively impact equity by enhancing access to content, supporting diverse learning trajectories, and fostering civic competences such as participation, dialogue, and responsibility. Students experienced democratic schooling not only as a formal principle but as a concrete practice, becoming agents of accessibility within their community.

The contribution further addresses an international dimension through a second strand of the project involving the translation and adaptation of “Inclusion Man” from Spanish to Italian, an inclusive comic book developed in Spain. This activity supports cross-cultural dialogue on disability rights, challenges stereotypical representations, and promotes agency and active citizenship, while also strengthening linguistic and interpretative competences.

In conclusion, the paper discusses the conditions, limits, and potential of cognitive accessibility as a pedagogical device for a “lived” democratic school, offering insights into how inclusive practices, teacher professionalism, and school–community partnerships can jointly contribute to more equitable and participatory education systems.

With the rapid advancement of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI), an expanding body of research has examined its impact on educational contexts. Former reviews have mapped the breadth of its applications and identified emerging trends, outlining both potentialities and challenges (Bahroun et al., 2023). Among these, a growing strand of research suggests that GenAI may also represent a significant resource for fostering inclusion processes in classroom and schools (De Mutiis et al., 2025; Lata, 2024). Research at the intersection of AI and inclusion, however, remains relatively recent and still fragmented. Some authors have, for example, analysed the impact of AI on learning outcomes and engagement among students with Special Educational Needs (SEN), the barriers encountered by educators in adopting AI-based solutions, and the ethical, pedagogical, and organisational challenges related to its implementation (Julien, 2024; Melo-López et al., 2025; Pagliara et al., 2024; Tsirantonaki & Vlachou, 2025). Overall, the literature indicates promising developments but also underscores the need for critical reflection on teacher pedagogical agency, ethical judgement, and the risk of reproducing existing inequalities. Inclusive planning constitutes a professional practice in which GenAI can meaningfully support teachers (Wang et al., 2025; Westover, 2025; Zanon et al., 2024). Planning can be understood as a complex professional competence that integrates teachers’ knowledge, skills, values, and attitudes, all of which are essential to effective and high-quality teaching (Munthe & Conway, 2017). Within inclusive education, planning is particularly demanding. It involves not only responding to the diverse social and individual learners’ characteristics and life histories but also creating learning environments that are attentive and responsive to these differences. This entails ongoing critical reflection on individual biases, assumptions, and attitudes toward diversity. At the same time, teachers are required to navigate and mediate among fragmented policies and regulatory frameworks operating at different levels (e.g., international discourses on inclusion, national inclusion policies, curriculum standards) (Demo et al., in press). In this context, AI could act as a supportive tool in addressing the cognitive, organisational, and reflective dimensions of inclusive planning, making it more sustainable for teachers (Bucchiarone et al., 2024; Moundridou et al., 2024). On this background, the present study aims to systematise recent international empirical and applied research investigating the contribution of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) to inclusive planning processes in K-12 educational setting. A systematic review was conducted following the PRISMA protocol (Page et al., 2021) to synthesise studies published between January 2023 and January 2026. The search was conducted on 23 February 2026 across three databases (ERIC, Scopus, and Web of Science) and yielded a total of 1,714 records after duplicate removal. Currently, a blind screening of these records is realised based on predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria. The analysis of the studies in the review will combine thematic and deductive approaches, drawing on existing literature to define coding categories for data extraction. The review’s findings are expected to guide the development of reflective AI-supported instructional practices that promote inclusive teaching and learning, providing practical insights for designing learning environments responsive to diverse student needs.

This paper presents the "Nupe-2" project, promoted by the University of Malaga in collaboration with the Universities of Barcelona, Valencia, Madrid, Cadiz, Gran Canaria, Roma Tre, UniKore, and Verona, which is scheduled for completion in June 2027. The project aims to investigate how legislation influences and is implemented within school practices in Italy and Spain, particularly concerning the development of the concepts of equity and curriculum personalization, the realization of full special and inclusive education, the construction of teacher identity, and the specific training dedicated to these areas.
Specifically, this contribution presents the work conducted by the Research Group at Roma Tre University through a case study involving a comprehensive institute (Istituto Comprensivo) located in the Garbatella district of Rome.
The research is situated within a period of profound transformation in the Italian school system, characterized by the revision of the Indicazioni Nazionali (National Guidelines) and an intense cultural and pedagogical debate. Within this context, critical questions emerge concerning equity, initial teacher training, curriculum fragmentation, and the management of special educational needs, which is often experienced in conditions of professional isolation. The methodological approach integrates various qualitative instruments: unstructured and structured classroom observations (including lectures, group work, assessments, and informal moments); observations of teachers; narrative interviews with key institutional figures (principals, classroom teachers, and support teachers); and focus groups conducted with primary and lower secondary school teachers.
The findings offer significant insights, suggesting a need to reinforce structured spaces for teacher collaboration, to promote ongoing, practice-based professional development, to support an integrated curricular approach, and to develop policies that enhance the community dimension of the school.