La Mia Scuola é Differente: Participatory Design Research in an Italian After-School Program

• In Event: Grasping the Elephant: International Perspectives on Truth-Making in Participatory Design Research Projects

Abstract

The project La Mia Scuola È Differente (My School is Different-MSD) aims at operating a high-quality after-school-program focused on promoting diversity, increasing social inclusion, and empowering children who attend primary and middle schools located in a historically marginalized area of Padua (Italy). There, over 80% of students have migrant backgrounds, and the neighborhood is impacted by cultural segregation and social stigma. MSD engages children in various creative, innovative activities that foster linguistic, emotional, scientific, and technological skills.

The project is run by a community collaboration involving representatives from: participating schools, nonprofit agencies and other social cooperatives in the area, and the University of Padua Departments of Psychology and Education. The academic work is framed in the intercultural perspective (Fiorucci 2020; Zoletto 2019), anthropology of education (Gobbo, 2011; Orellana 2020) and participatory design research (Bang & Vossoughi, 2016). Moreover, the research group became part of University-Community Links (UC Links) (Underwood & Welsh Mahmood, 2017), a collaborative network of university and community partners, working closely to sustain after-school programs that extend access to quality educational resources and activities for youth from underserved communities.

One of the aims of this local collaboration is to further develop the Padua after-school program by tailoring the UC Links’ model and strategies to the Italian context. This implies that the University’s faculty and students work closely with community leaders to develop engaging programs specifically designed to serve the needs of local young people. Therefore, a participatory design research approach has been implemented in order to understand the context, before the education research group actively engages with the local community. Specifically, undergraduates are part of the multidimensional team composed of teachers, educators, and researchers involved in the project operations and have been involved in participant observations and collecting field notes about the activities of the summer part of the project.

The presentation focuses on our analyses of undergraduates’ ideas on children, learning, and school, identifying how they expanded through collaborative discussions during ad hoc data analysis sessions while examining field notes together. Two topics emerged that were of interest to the students: collaboration and conflict in the children's activities at the site. We looked at instances of conflict and cooperation with attention to intercultural dynamics and considered as well how our different positions (as students, teachers, and adults insiders/outsiders to the context) may have shaped our interpretations of these events. Indeed, teachers and educators involved in the MSD’s partnership actively cooperate in the research process by interpreting the undergraduates' reflections and letting the research evolve. Through this collaborative process, participatory research makes true sense, and the MSD’ partnerships gain real significance and meaning.

Author

• Lisa Bugno, University of Padua
  Presenting Author