SEN Policies and Migrant Children in Italian Schools: Micro-Exclusions Through Discourses of Equality

• In Event: Intersectionality in Europe: Examining Oppression and Resistance at the Intersections of Ableism and Other Forms of Isms

Abstract

Objectives or Purposes
This contribution analyses the underpinnings and implementation of Special Educational Needs (SEN) policies in Italy, within the internationally celebrated policy arena of Integrazione Scolastica (i.e. school integration) through an intersectional lens. The aim is to explore the extent to which SEN policies in Italy foster inclusion and equity in education, particularly for multiply marginalized and migrant students. In doing so, the contribution intends to advance critical thinking about the phenomenon of over-representation of students from marginalized backgrounds within the SEN macro-category in Italy, by examining policy narratives both nationally and locally.
Theoretical Framework
This contribution adopts the interdisciplinary and intersectional framework of Disability Critical Race Theory (DisCrit) in education (Annamma et al, 2013) to suggest that Italian SEN policies legitimate forms of micro-exclusions of migrant students in mainstream classrooms, despite discursive promises of quality for all students. DisCrit explores how normalising processes of racism and ableism position unwanted bodies outside of the category of ‘normal’ in order to justify their exclusion and segregation in education and in society (Annamma & Morrison, 2018). Reading Italian SEN policies through the lens of DisCrit provides a unique opportunity to think about ways to (re)organize classrooms, moving away from ‘fixing’ the individual - be it the student or the teacher- and shifting toward justice.
Methods and Data Sources
The data presented in this contribution were collected through a qualitative pilot study, drawing on case study methods (Eisenhardt, 1989). This research strategy has been deployed here to explore the policy discourses of both SEN national documents and school policies, and their effects on the articulation of school practitioners and principals’ discourse. This contribution focuses on the Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) (Fairclough, 2010) of the main national education policies and circulars (2012 Ministerial Directive on Inclusive Education, and 2013 Circular n. 8 on Special Educational Needs), and 10 school development plans for inclusion (Piano Annuale per l’Inclusione), produced as a result of national SEN policies. DisCrit and its tenets guide and inform all the components of the study, including design, framing of the questions, methods, and analysis of the data.
Results and Scholarly Significance
Analysing the policies through the intersectional lens of DisCrit, this contribution suggests that Italian SEN policies legitimate forms of micro-exclusion of marginalized and migrant students in mainstream inclusive classrooms, despite discursive promises of equality for all students. Specifically, the analysis shows that SEN policies in Italy are oriented to the identification, classification and categorization of differences within mainstream school settings, rather than including marginalized students.
The deliberate commitment to analyse inclusion and SEN policies in Italy through an intersectional framework can address much of the racism, ableism and oppressions that are reiterated in such policies and in everyday classroom practice. Reflecting, and modifying these policies through DisCrit can directly impact the achievement, behavior, and disability labelling of migrant students, and indeed all students. A DisCrit approach to SEN policies and practices will help teachers in gathering, preserving and growing the future of marginalized, migrant and all students.

Author

• Valentina Migliarini, University of Birmingham