Panel E.06 — Models and methods to contrast school inequalities and students’ dropout. Teaching skills and teacher professional identity
Convenors Roberta Cardarello (University Modena and Reggio Emilia, Italy); Elisabetta Nigris (University Milano Bicocca, Italy)
Keywords teaching strategies, school dropout, teacher skills
The data related school scores and results confirm that students’ success is connected to parents’ educational qualifications. The school not only does not seem capable of reversing this trend through effective pedagogical and methodological decisions but actually risks increasing inequalities. However, scientific research in this regard has repeatedly highlighted the contrastive power of some methodological elements and ‘malleable’ variables; among these, the teaching skills of teachers are decisive, and more specifically their ability to read and interpret socio-educational context and student needs, and to adopt and manage multiple and targeted teaching devises and methodology. The panel intends to present Italian research that addresses the problem of inequalities and school drop out connecting these issues with professional identity of teachers and their methodological choises. We intend to investigate and document effective teaching-learning strategies to extend academic success for a larger number of students and, above all, in favor of the weakest segments of population. On the other hand, given the recognized centrality of teachers’ role in all innovation processes, we intend to thematize and analyze the specific teaching skills of teachers, such ability to read educational contexts, recognize and address student educational needs and set up learning environment conducive to academic success. In particular, the panel will aim to explore the transition between school cycles, paying attention to the different secondary school vocational choises. Moreover, will be presented and analyzed validated school experiments or methods that have proven effective in reducing educational inequalities and contrasting any form of school dropout will be presented.