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Modena lower secondary school network

Promoting Inclusive Schools

Preventive actions to combat disadvantage and school drop- out

OUTLINE OF THE “PROMOTING INCLUSIVE SCHOOLS” PROJECT

This is a network-based project linking all lower secondary schools in the city of Modena (5 main schools for a total of 10 school complexes) and focusing on the introduction of activities, especially workshops, to prevent and reduce disadvantage and to lower school drop-out rates.

The Project was conceived by a group of teachers and parents from two schools where similar schemes, involving a significant contribution from parents with relevant expertise, have been in place for years. It began formally in the 2004-2005 school year and is being reviewed on an annual basis by teaching staff at the schools concerned.

The Project consists of a series of actions that have proved effective over the years in preventing disadvantage.

1) Afternoon workshops run by parents willing to offer children the benefit of their expertise. These are open to all students of the school and also attract the enthusiastic participation of foreign students and problematic children (in the most difficult cases, parents are assisted by members of school support staff).

2) Expert-led afternoon workshops designed specifically for children with difficulties, who can nonetheless carry out their activities in groups with other students from the school. These are important occasions in which students with difficulties in particular are able to develop or exhibit new skills and thus acquire a greater sense of self-esteem.

3) Morning workshops of very small groups led by experts or teachers from the schools.

4) Afternoon guided study sessions led by teachers from the school itself or by volunteer teachers. These are intended for students experiencing some difficulties but who are nonetheless keen to learn. In one school, the study sessions were guided by students from upper secondary schools.

5) Recovery of skills and abilities (comprehension, study methods, etc.), in afternoon or morning sessions led by teachers from the schools. These are designed for students with difficulties who are, nevertheless, motivated to learn.

6) Individualised courses designed for very problematic children lacking motivation. Some students are assisted during the year by a teacher or member of the teaching staff, with various forms of action (discussions of problems at school, training “contract”, contacts with parents, etc.).

Acting as coordinators and referents, a group of teachers (from the ten schools) has played a key role in drawing up, coordinating, and promoting the project on an on-going basis. This group has been responsible for conducting the project and for drawing up proposals and designing materials in close collaboration with the technical committee. The latter is comprised of: the director of the pilot school, who chairs the committee; the head of the ‘CSA’ research office; a representative from the Municipality (the director of ‘MEMO’ (see below), formerly ‘CDE’); a representative from the University (Faculty of Education Sciences); and a representative from a local education agency that engages in highly specialised initiatives to prevent and reduce disadvantage (‘CEIS’). The technical committee’s remit includes monitoring the project and its processes as well as assessment and evaluation tasks in order to better define and understand these processes, not least with a view to wider deployment of the existing model. The Project also includes a group of parent representatives who act as coordinators and referents and also play a part in designing and assessing the project.

Cornerstones of the Project are the involvement of class councils in identifying disadvantaged students and in the integration process, and the systematic involvement of the teaching staff. The aim of such involvement is to guide the whole school towards an integrated position on its educational approach both to situations of disadvantage and to students in general.

Joint teacher-training initiatives on disadvantage and related issues, run by schools in the network, are an integral part of the Project.

In the time that the Project has been up and running various contacts and channels for collaboration have been – and still are – opening up with:

a) Modena Municipality’s Department of Education for the creation of initiatives and organisation of teacher-training courses on disadvantage and its prevention (two have already taken place);

(of particular interest in this respect is the ‘MEMO’ initiative [the ‘Sergio Neri’ Educational Multicentre of Modena), which provides the Project with access to secretarial support (one staff member) and organisational structures];

b) Modena Municipality’s ‘Social Services and Youth Policy’ Department, with whom the Project will be working in 2005-2006 in order to obtain, from the outset, a precise picture of each child experiencing problems and to build up a common pathway of care and action, and with whom synergies can be agreed and developed;

c) The University of Bologna;

d) Afterschool initiatives run by local parishes and community centres for young people;

e) Upper secondary schools, especially with ‘IPSIA Corni’. The aim here is to devise forms of liaison between lower and upper secondary schools (brief guidance periods, information exchanges in the transition to upper secondary school, volunteer programmes for upper secondary school students to help with guided study for students experiencing difficulties, etc.).

On 20^th September 2005, a seminar was held at the provincial level (as part of the Project, with funding from the Provincial Authorities of Modena). During the seminar the Project and its results were presented along with projects and initiatives being promoted by other schools to prevent disadvantage and lower the school drop-out rate.

The Project is financed by the Emilia-Romagna Regional Authorities and Modena Municipal Authorities.

The ‘Cassa di Risparmio di Modena’ Foundation also made a decisive contribution in the last school year.