The Youngest Victims: Children and Youth Affected by War

In 1989, the United Nation Convention on the Rights of the Child declared, “[state parties] shall take all feasible measures to ensure protection and care of children who are affected by an armed conflict.” In addition to attempting to secure the welfare of children in armed conflict, the Convention went on to ban the recruitment and deployment of children during armed conflict. Despite the vast majority of sovereign nations signing and ratifying this agreement, this treaty, unfortunately, has not prevented children and youth from witnessing, becoming victims of, or participating in political, ethnic, religious, and cultural violence across the past three decades. This chapter offers an “ecological perspective” on the psychosocial consequences of exposure to the trauma of war-related violence and social disruption

“As a Parent You Become a Tiger”: Parents Talking about Bullying at School

Bullying at school can be a distressing experience for children. It is also likely to be distressing for their parents. In spite of this, research in the field of school bullying and peer victimisation has tended to overlook the experience of parents when their child is bullied. This study explored school bullying from the parent’s perspective. Twenty-one parents took part in semi-structured focus groups and interviews to share their experiences. Thematic analysis of the interview transcripts identified two main themes: ’perceived institutional factors’ and ’being a good parent’. It was found that parents viewed their principal role as protecting their child; they referred to this as an instinct and fundamental to them being a good parent. However, during their attempts to help their child, many parents talked about difficulties working with schools and this triggered frustration and distrust towards teachers. The findings highlight the importance of communication between parents and teachers and ensuring that parents are kept informed of progress when teachers are trying to address the problem. Additionally, the findings indicate that parents may hold different views to teachers about their role in school bullying situations. This would suggest that parents looking at the situation from the teacher’s perspective, and vice versa, could help to build better parent-teacher relationships when tackling school bullying

Tempo di ripensare l'alleanza scuola-famiglia? Temi centrali nella letteratura sulla cooperazione scuola-famiglia ai tempi della pandemia

COVID-19 added a new dimension to the relationship between school professionals and students’ families: a virtual one. To explore this shift and the associated challenges, we performed a bibliometric analysis of research literature published on the topic to the end of 2021. Our guiding question was: what kind of themes are emerging in literature on the school-family relationship in association with COVID-19? Our search of Scopus, Web of Sciences and ERIC retrieved 286 articles. Using VOSviewer, we conducted a bibliometric analysis based on article keywords to map the field, producing a visual representation of networks of themes. Four clusters emerged: “educational players”, “distance learning”, “partnership” and “social context”. Unsurprisingly, the analysis suggests a shift in the roles of parents and teachers, with the digital sphere becoming central to their relationship. Beyond this, the crisis has cast light on both existing problems and the potential of a partnership based on a genuine sharing of responsibility.Il rapporto scuola-famiglie, con la pandemia da COVID-19, ha guadagnato una nuova dimensione: quella virtuale. Al fine di esplorare questo cambiamento e le sfide ad esso associate, è stata condotta un’analisi bibliometrica della letteratura pubblicata in merito fino alla fine del 2021. La domanda che ha guidato la ricerca è stata: quali temi vengono toccati dalla letteratura dedicata al rapporto scuola-famiglia al tempo della pandemia da COVID-19? La ricerca è stata condotta su tre database: Scopus, Web of Sciences ed ERIC. Sono stati individuati 286 articoli. Al fine di mappare il campo di ricerca, l’analisi si è servita di VOSviewer; ciò ha permesso di rappresentare anche visualmente le reti tematiche presenti in letteratura. Sono emersi 4 temi: “attori educativi”, “distance learning”, “partnership”, “contesto sociale”. Come prevedibile, l’analisi degli articoli ha rivelato la centralità assunta dalla sfera digitale nel rapporto scuola-famiglie, mentre ha avuto luogo uno spostamento di ruoli tra genitori e docenti. Di là da ciò, la crisi pandemica ha sia evidenziato i problemi già esistenti sia lasciato intravedere le potenzialità di una partnership basata sulla reale condivisione della responsabilità educativa

Tempi di crisi: un'opportunità per contestare l'ingiustizia e le diseguaglianze strutturali. Combattere insieme ai genitori per un mondo migliore attraverso nuove forme di co-partecipazione scuola-famiglia

The changes that have shaped the contemporary world are many and varied. We live in a time of crises, in our economic systems, in the health of our democracies, in our very societies. Each of these as- pects is inextricably linked with a crisis of equality that has seen changes sweep through many areas of our working, economic, educational, social and political lives. In such conditions, exacerbated by climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic, awakening the spirit of equality should start with strengthening a vision of a better future. In this special issue, the authors lead us on a journey around the world, taking as a starting point the experiences of parents, teachers and students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on the analysis of studies and research papers looking at the impact of school closures and emergency remote teaching and learning in different countries (Spain and Germany) and in a more general, global context, they emphasize the way that the pandemic has exacerbated pre-existing disparities. As we see from the case of a grassroots parents’ movement in Chicago, the challenge of ensuring the right to a good education for all is one that we have already been facing for many years