Crises time: an opportunity to rise up against injustice and structural inequalities. Fighting alongside parents for a better world through new forms of school-family co-participation

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

Time to rethink the teacher-family alliance? Central issues in the “pandemic” literature on home-school cooperation

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 scuolafamiglia 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.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

Une coopération antinomique

Malgré un cadre législatif très incitatif, la participation des familles à l’école italienne reste encore formelle. Cependant la mise en place actuelle du principe d’autonomie des établissements devrait permettre une véritable coopération qui donnerait sens à la notion de « communauté scolaire démocratique », en impliquant tous les acteurs du processus éducatif.Despite a favourable legislative context in Italy, parent participation exists on paper only or in embryonic form at best. The introduction of autonomous management for schools will pave the way for real partnerships, a “participative school community”, involving all of the actors in the education process.A pesar del marco legislativo muy incitativo, la participación de las familias en las escuelas italianas sigue siendo pura forma. Sin embargo, el asentamiento actual del principio de autonomía de los centros debería permitir una verdadera cooperación, por la cual la noción de « comunidad escolar democrática » cobraría todo su sentido, al implicar a todos los actores del proceso educativo

La corresponsabilit\ue0 educativa tra famiglia e scuola.

Il rapporto tra scuola e famiglia \ue8, da alcuni decenni, oggetto di riflessione e ricerca a livello internazionale. Esso viene nominato in vario modo. Si \ue8 parlato e si parla di coinvolgimento parentale, di collaborazione scuola-famiglia, di partnership, di relazioni docenti-genitori, di corresponsabilit\ue0 educativa. Ogni forma nominale esprime un modo di intendere il rapporto scuola-famiglia pi\uf9 o meno diverso, storicizzato ed espressione di differenti paradigmi di pensiero. Lo studio del rapporto tra le due istituzioni ha prodotto teorizzazioni anche molto distanti tra loro. Ricercatori, associazioni, politici e i principali attori, genitori e docenti, mostrano concezioni diverse circa il ruolo, le funzioni, i diritti e le responsabilit\ue0 da attribuire ai soggetti coinvolti nei processi educativi delle nuove generazioni.Ci\uf2 nonostante, la storia del rapporto tra le due istituzioni \ue8 la storia di un rapporto irrisolto, nel contesto del quale il primo, inevitabile, incontro tra genitori e docenti si traduce pi\uf9 che in una reale collaborazione, in un rapporto di sostegno a distanza quando non assume le forme di un patto di reciproca non interferenza

Skills, Attitudes, Relational Abilities & Reflexivity: Competences for a Multicultural Society

AbstractThis qualitative research is aimed at increasing knowledge about Intercultural Communication Competence (ICC). After reviewing Western literature, we explored the Cultural Mediators’ (CMs) point of view. They can be considered as privileged witnesses to understand what skills are needed to act with appropriacy in multicultural situations and how to acquire them.Data were collected from 20 CMs, of different countries, who had been working in northern Italy in different areas for 10 years: Health, Education, Social Services, Courthouse. In order to identify the most important areas of investigation some focus groups have been conducted. The emerging themes were examined through 15 semi- structured interviews. What are the competences (attitudes, skills, knowledge) for an appropriate management of interaction between people in a multicultural context? What promotes the ICC acquisition and development?The analysis of the data confirms the complex, systemic structure of ICC (attitudes, knowledge, and skills) and highlights the interdependence of various factors. The ICC development requires a continuous training over time, with particular attention to: i. self-knowledge; ii. social skills; iii. cultural awareness; iv. knowledge of the organizations in which the CM work. Many variables influence ICC, but these data seem to identify in self- awareness, relational skills and a continuous training, their real essence. In their implementation, the key role has been recognized to personality patterns, motivation and reflexivity; comparison with colleagues; periodical psychological supervision. These findings require further investigation in order to reach the specificity of the meanings attributed to ICC in non Western cultures

The Family-School relationship in Europe: A Research Review

The literature on research carried out in the field and parents\u2019 and teach- ers\u2019 declarations all point in the same direction: good collaboration be- tween home and school is useful to the child-student for his education and learning. Despite this, parent-teacher relationships in Europe (and elsewhere), from Spain to Sweden, from Ireland to Greece, and from Italy to the Czech Republic, represent an unresolved issue. This is a com- plex relationship that calls into play various social spheres: macro (so- cial), intermediary (institutional) and micro (relational); in fact, there are as many diverse realities as there are schools. In Europe, the relation- ship between individual behaviours (parents vs. teachers), social orien- tations (neoliberalism) and institutional frameworks (school markets) appears significant: scarce parental participation, lack of adequate forms of home-school communications, and the need to make investments in parent and teacher training. Nevertheless, family and school are called on to create a dialogue in order to contribute to the processes of training new generations. They both need each other in order to carry out that task in the best way. This paper presents and discusses the results of a theoretical analysis conducted on the basis of the international litera- ture concerning research on the school-family relationship, with par- ticular attention on the situation of different European countries, and concludes with suggestions for some practical improvements

Societ\ue0 multiculturale e senso di appartenenza: i figli di migranti e il contesto scolastico

L\u2019articolo muove dall\u2019assunto secondo il quale il bisogno di appartenenza svolge un ruolo cruciale nella vita umana. Pone a tema, poi, la difficile e contradditoria situazione in cui si trovano i giovani nati in Italia da genitori migranti per quanto riguarda sia il loro senso di appartenenza sia la loro integrazione nel contesto di vita. Molteplici sono i fattori che entrano in gioco nella formazione del senso di appartenenza e nei processi di integrazione sociale che riguardano le seconde generazioni. Il contributo si sofferma sul ruolo svolto dalle politiche educative e dal sistema scolastico in Italia e nel contesto europeo

Teaching in our Society: Primary Teachers and Intercultural Competencies

Abstract Living in a context marked by pluralism and heterogeneity is never straightforward, even less so if you belong to a marginalised part of society, in terms of social status, culture and religion. The processes that lead to social exclusion take effect in the first years of a child's life and too often they are formalised in the school system. In Italy, research data and statistics reveal a deep-rooted disparity in the academic trajectories of students from a migrant background when compared with what we might term "native" students. Since the reduced level of attainment of such "non-Italian" students is already noticeable in primary school, where the formal process of acquiring the language skills required in education takes place, we decided to work with teachers from this level of schooling to discover if, and in what way, they have the skills and training required to teach such students. The teachers chosen had taught in multicultural classes for a total of at least five years. Hoping to ascertain whether these teachers employed intercultural competencies in their teaching practice – and if so, which ones – we selected a method based on the narration of a problem situation encountered during their time in teaching. To date, fifty teachers have been interviewed. Analysis of the interviews reveals a heterogeneous reality, with some teachers displaying new forms of sensitivity and cultural competence in response to a changing world and a changing school population, while others seem entrenched in an outdated mindset

Interferon-γ and tumor necrosis factor-α enhance p60src expression in human macrophages and myelomonocytic cell lines

AbstractWe investigated modulation of p60src expression in human mononuclear phagocytes. By analysis of [35S]methionine-labelled cells we found that synthesis of p60src is higher in human monocytes compared to macrophages derived from in vitro cultivation of monocytes. Western blot analysis showed that expression of p60src in monocyte-derived macrophages can be enhanced if monocytes are differentiated into macrophages in the presence of interferon-γ (IFN-γ), or tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α). Enhanced p60src expression caused by IFN-γ or TNF-a correlated with an enhanced autophosphorylating kinase activity assayed in anti-p60src immune precipitates. In vivo phosphorylation of p60src and analysis of phosphopeptides by tryptic digestion showed that treatment with cytokines did not affect the pattern of phosphorylation of distinct phosphopeptides. The human monocytic cell lines, U937 and HL-60, induced to differentiate along the monocytic pathway by IFN-γ, or a combination of IFN-γ and TNF-α, expressed higher amounts of the p60src, but not of the p59fyn or p62yes, kinase activity. These findings show that p60src is modulated in the course of differentiation of human monocytes to macrophages, and that macrophage-activating cytokines increase p60src expression in human monocyte-derived macrophages

The 'Nido' as a place of Cultural Integration

The European Union acknowledges that early childhood education and care (ECEC) is the essential and fundamental paths towards permanent learning and social inclusion, particularly regarding migrant families and their children. Which educational methods have proven to be the best for the integration of migrant families? What strategies have been implemented to improve relationships among peers and to help children from immigrant families master the Italian language? What scenarios have been the most difficult to manage? The purpose of this study was to find the best educational practices used by Italian nursery school teachers to promote integration. Moreover, we wanted to identify the most significant obstacles the teachers encountered. A qualitative survey was done within a phenomenological frame. The research data includes full transcriptions (low-structured interviews) of interviews with educational staff who work in the Italian public and private nursery school system. Data analysis was done according to the grounded theory principle in order to define a \u201clocal theory\u201d of education based on practical experience. There were numerous children from immigrant families in the educational centers where the survey was conducted (50% or more) . This was considered an advantage for everyone involved- natives and immigrants alike. Cultural diversity produces more flexibility at different levels of the educational system and improves the ability to acknowledge and accept each individual\u2019s uniqueness. The best educational practice we found were workshops where children, parents and teachers were all involved. Workshops are situations/sessions of informal learning where one\u2019s first language and culture are appreciated , thus, bilingualism can be fostered