Over the past decades, research on the renewal of school architecture has increasingly placed the relationship between physical space and learning processes at the center of pedagogical debate, promoting a rethinking of schooling through learning environments, both physical and digital. Drawing on…

This contribution investigates the role of teacher education in countering hate speech, discrimination, and forms of symbolic violence, with specific reference to the linguistic representation of violence against women with disabilities. Within a critical and intersectional pedagogical perspective,…

This paper examines teacher education as a space for educational responsibility, exploring how the integration of generative AI and STEAM approaches challenges and redefines the professional identity of STEM teachers. Building on an exploratory study conducted as part of the PNRR with a group of…

This paper discusses a research-training project, launched in the 2024-2025 academic year, aiming to promote active digital citizenship among future nursery and primary school teachers. The research employs a mixed-methods approach (Creswell & Creswell, 2018), starting with a quantitative…

Prison often tends to frustrate teachers' aspirations to a quality educational process that promotes inclusion in a context characterized by anonymization, infantilisation, vulnerability and marginalization. The combination of education and experience represents a fundamental theoretical construct…

This paper presents the results of a research-training program developed as part of the Con-tatto. Affective Education, Languages, and Cultures for Children project, promoted within the framework of the Third Mission and interinstitutional collaboration between universities, schools, and the local…

This contribution aims to present the latest research-raining activities carried out by the Centre for Skills Assessment and Career Guidance at the University of Foggia in the field of continuing professional development for teachers, described as a potentially generative and transformative context…

This contribution examines teacher professionalism in inclusive mathematics education through the experience of ABMOVE!, a project that developed a curriculum-based active breaks program for primary school, designed in alignment with principles related to Universal Design for Learning. The empirical…

This paper explores the life project as a pedagogical and transformative framework for reshaping the professionalism of support teachers in upper secondary schools. Drawing on the Italian legislative framework introduced by Legislative Decree no. 62/2024, the study investigates how secondary school…

In response to the challenges of methodological innovation in teacher education and to students' growing exposure to vulnerability and cognitive diversity, this paper adopts the UDL framework, integrating it with Arts-Based Pedagogy, Social-Emotional Learning and Embodied Cognition, to examine how…

This study investigates, from an exploratory perspective, the representations and training needs concerning school-based guidance among a sample of 185 trainee teachers enrolled in the PEF30 qualifying pathway at Roma Tre University. Drawing on a structured questionnaire, the research identifies a…

This cross-sectional correlational study examines the relationship between attitudes toward inclusion and professional reflexivity in teacher training, conceptualizing teacher education as a critical and transformative practice within school contexts marked by complexity and vulnerability. A sample…

The article analyses professional resources and challenges in multigrade teaching within a network of schools located in the inner areas of Central Italy. Research on multigrade teachers’ professional development needs has relied mainly on perceived difficulties, which may reflect the reproduction…

This contribution examines the application of generative artificial intelligence within history and philosophy teaching. The article frames AI not as a replacement for the teacher, but as a cooperative tool for adaptation capable of redefining the teacher's role as a mediator of the instructional…

The spread of generative artificial intelligence in educational contexts calls for critical reflection on the pedagogical, epistemic, and ethical implications it introduces into learning processes and teacher education pathways (Cassinadri, 2024; Nirchi et al., 2025). Building on a previous study…

The growing pervasiveness of Artificial Intelligence (AI) within Inclusive Education contexts calls for critical reflection on both teacher professionalism and students’ learning processes. From this perspective, it becomes necessary to examine the role of AI within its antinomic tension as both a…

The use of Artificial Intelligence within assessment practices in schools highlights the need to foster future teachers’ responsibility in making critical and informed decisions, also in light of recent ministerial Guidelines. These Guidelines constitute a key foundation for the development of…

In Italy, the introduction of Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) in educational, school, and training contexts faces obstacles stemming from diverse personal and social positions (Bruno, 2024a, 2025a). CSE is defined as a lifelong learning process that begins in early childhood (WHO & BZgA,…

In the post-digital era, characterised by growing inequalities and widespread social and family vulnerability, teacher training takes on strategic importance in supporting the educational success of every child and in preventing, at an early stage, the impact of disadvantage on children’s…

The pervasive sense of urgency and intimidation to which global conflicts have accustomed us is also fuelled by a seemingly subtle form of violence, such as linguistic one, which permeates both political and institutional discourse and the language of everyday life, including that of schools.…

This study analyses primary teachers’ intrapersonal and interpersonal competences for bullying and cyberbullying prevention. A self-assessment tool combining Likert-type items and situational judgement tasks, based on real school situations reported by teachers, was applied to a sample of teachers…

The contribution presents a doctoral research project conducted jointly by the University of Málaga and Roma Tre University, aimed at investigating the role of university teaching practicum in the construction of teachers’ professional identity. Conceiving teacher education as a space for…

The study aims to examine the relationship between personal values and self-efficacy among special education teachers, analyzing the influence of teaching motivations (autonomous and controlled) (Schwartz, 2012; Bandura, 1977; Roth et al., 2007). The research involved a sample of 314 participants (F…

This study analyzes representations, uses, and critical issues of generative AI in education based on 723 participants (in-service and pre-service teachers, university and secondary school students). The analysis, grounded in the socio-cognitive model and the PRAXIS framework, employed LLM-assisted…

Numerous studies have highlighted the value of classroom discussion as a tool for the collective elaboration of knowledge (Pontecorvo et al., 2004; Alexander, 2018; Alexander, 2020). However, there is limited research attention on teacher training programs dedicated to dialogic approaches. In light…

The study investigates the conditions under which the integration of VR and GenAI may constitute a pedagogically grounded instrument of didactic innovation. The research comparatively evaluates MuSEd VR, an immersive environment featuring GenAI-based conversational avatars, against the traditional…

The development of professional identity is a central aspect of preservice teacher training. This study explores the role of intrinsic, extrinsic and altruistic motivations in teacher identity among first- and second-year students in a Bachelor’s degree programme in Primary Education. A…

Based on Self-Determination Theory, this paper investigates the relationship between supportive behaviors adopted by teachers, students’ intrinsic motivation, and the consequent impact on learning outcomes. Through a quantitative study conducted on a sample of 102 students from a Technical…

Contemporary educational systems are subject to multiple pressures and transformations, rendering approaches limited to the management of the immediate increasingly inadequate. Futures thinking emerges as an essential meta-competence for teachers, who are increasingly called upon to act as agents of…

The development of student teachers’ (STs) professional identity involves a process of self-transformation encompassing ethical-social and technical-professional dimensions. Teacher initial education programmes therefore aim to foster metacognition processes that promote the integration of…

The multicultural identity of the Italian school system calls for reflection on teachers’ competences. In the current context, intercultural competence appears particularly relevant in fostering more inclusive and motivating educational and teaching practices. The present study examines the…

The training of early childhood educators requires approaches that integrate solid theoretical foundations with formative methodologies capable of developing a playful, reflective, and inclusive educational professionalism, recognizing the bodily, emotional, and relational dimensions as fundamental…

This contribution presents a systematic review of the scientific literature, conducted in accordance with the PRISMA protocol, on the integration of Artificial Intelligence into the initial and in-service training of educators and teachers working in the 0–6 age group. Particular attention is…

The paper develops a methodological inquiry into the assessment of play within early childhood education services, focusing on how this educational dimension can be effectively recognised and documented in self-evaluation frameworks for educational quality. Based on experience from nursery centers…

From a neurophysiological perspective, play contributes to children's cognitive development, allowing them to connect with themselves and the environment (Casolo, Frattini, 2023). Movement games engage children in the execution of basic motor patterns (Sibilio, D'Elia, 2015) and not only exercise…

Learning through play is essential in early childhood and primary education. Digital games employ motivational strategies and create ludic spaces. One example is ActiveFloor, an educational technology (EdTech), which allows children to physically interact with projected learning games. In a pilot…

Playing is an all-children’s right, and preschool education has a fundamental role in ensuring that playing is guaranteed in its pedagogical and curricular proposal. This article addresses the importance children attribute to play and do it in the school environment, also seeks to reflect on the…

This article explores inclusive play in early childhood, placing particular emphasis on the integration of analogic and digital solutions. It is based on key regulatory documents such as the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and ICF-CY (WHO), as well as on the latest research on play as a…

This article interrogates an ongoing initiative, launched in 2017, within the framework of “Artoo – Art as Told by Children”, a project explicitly oriented to fostering the authorial agency of preschool-aged children. The programme interweaves the dramaturgical play dimension inherent in…

The digital environment is conceptualized as an educational space to be inhabited, according to a socio-constructivist perspective, in which learning develops through interaction with meaningful contexts. Playful learning, based on play experience and active participation, represents a pedagogical…

The article, based on the findings of PRIN Di.Co.Each (Digital Competence in Early Childhood), seeks to promote reflection on the tasks of educational services for children aged 0-6, in order to create educational contexts that can foster a balance between analogue and digital environments for…

For children, play is the preferred way to learn and interact with the world. Thus, play is one of the pillars of preschool education. Education professionals must therefore be able to create stimulating and varied contexts in order to support children's play. To do this, they can play around with…

Play is recognised as the privileged language of childhood and a driving force in cognitive, linguistic, motor, and socio-relational development. Early childhood education is called upon to restore its centrality, making it the core of the educational proposal. In this perspective, the contribution…

This paper aims to reflect on the essential value of play as a vehicle for the cognitive, psycho-affective, and linguistic development of infants. Preschool is one of the main educational institutions in a child's life and is called upon, daily, to make the important choice of directing and guiding…

This paper explores the transformation of play in early childhood education services, bringing together theoretical perspectives, historical sources, and contemporary evidence. Starting from a pedagogical framework inspired by Maria Montessori, the research investigates the value of play, developing…

In the field of 0-6 education, play is the epistemological cornerstone of learning, understood not only as an experience of discovery, but as a symbolic, physical and relational practice. The emergence of hybrid educational environments, in which digital and material intertwine, challenges pedagogy…

The integration of digital technologies into the play dimension of kindergarten raises profound questions about the role of play in learning and the pedagogical and ethical responsibilities of the teacher. This contribution critically examines the transformations of children's play in the digital…

Play, in its different forms, is recognized as a key component of children's growth and learning processes. In early childhood education, play is a basic foundation that helps children explore, socialize, be creative, as well as engage in care activities. These benefits, generated through the…

This contribution explores the formative value of video analysis as a reflective and participatory methodology within early childhood education services, with a specific focus on the observation of children's play. Drawing on a field-based training experience, it highlights how the use of video…

Play experiences are essential for children's cognitive, social, emotional, and psychological development. As evidenced by 93% of teachers (from a sample of 137 participants) who completed a specific questionnaire during the research project "A che giochi giochiamo in Molise? L’importanza del…

Aren’t kids having fun today? This adult-centric perception masks a very different reality: contemporary childhood has redefined its playful languages through digital media that often elude traditional pedagogical understanding. This research proposes a review of the international literature on…

The use of board games in educational settings is increasingly emerging as a practice capable of combining inclusive aims, cognitive development, and active learning. This contribution presents the development and testing of an evaluation grid for board games, aimed at analyzing their effectiveness…

This paper compares the formulation of the role of play in early childhood education for children aged 0-6 in Italy and Spain, across both digital and analogue experiences. Literature, applied research, and case studies from these countries, as perused hereinafter, poignantly unravel how play…

This experimental study investigates the risks and developmental potential of digital educational technologies in early childhood play (ages 3 to 6). Using a comparative pre–post test design, it explores the cognitive, behavioral, and emotional outcomes of three play conditions: guided digital…

Access to learning is a crucial element in an inclusive learning city perspective. Homelessness is one of the most serious forms of exclusion. From the perspective of lifelong learning, a commitment is needed towards strengthening individual resources and, at the same time, recognising competences…

This article applies the construct of the 'learning city' to the context of territorial communities. These communities, facing difficulties resulting from marginalization processes—a consequence of globalization which has concentrated opportunities and wealth in predominantly urban hubs—seek to…

The concept of Learning City aims to promote inclusive learning for all, from basic to higher education, including marginalized social groups. In this context, persons in prison represent one such group, in spatial and symbolic terms (Goffman, 1961). Prisons are closed institutions (Verdolini,…

How can urban exploration function as a site of learning? What epistemological frameworks can drive innovation in teacher education? As part of the EU Green Week, the W.E.R.S.Um. project engaged 100 undergraduate students in Primary Education Studies in a critical re-examination of the city as an…

The Learning City concept highlights the role of local educational and cultural institutions, encouraging them to promote collaborative networks for the implementation of educational policies inspired by the principles of Lifelong Learning and Leave No One Behind. The article explores and comments…

Digital innovation is redefining the role of schools within the urban ecosystem, transforming them into distributed and participatory learning environments. Learning Cities are emerging as inclusive spaces where technology enhances access to education. However, their integration is hindered by…

The 2021 UNESCO Report refers to Service Learning (SL) as a pedagogy that integrates learning with a strong sense of purpose. SL is an educational approach that employs collaborative inquiry strategies to address real-world problems. This contribution presents the issues of a descriptive study…

After a historical reconstruction starting with Marshall McLuhan's contribution to the definition of a “city as a classroom” from lifelong education and the discourse on words and images in pedagogical media devices, the paper traces the pedagogical-educational foundations by which the…

The learning city model proposed by UNESCO (UNESCO, 2015 e 2017) and the urban paradigm commonly known as smart city (Vianello, 2013), represent models whose coexistence, in a logic of mutual integrability, It can foster the development of cross-cutting skills in favour of citizenship (Andone et…

This paper investigates the theme of Learning Cities in relation to university life, physical and sports activities and the management of university students' free time. The main objective is to highlight the role of universities as learning and relationship communities that promote well-being. To…

Urban regeneration cannot be limited to the physical transformation of spaces, but must translate into an authentic collective learning process. In the Learning Cities perspective, the cultural heritage and the educating community become strategic resources for lifelong, inclusive and sustainable…

The article frames the theme of Learning Cities by taking as an example the way in which the Open-Air Lab research group, within the MUSA project, has worked on the construction of a participatory culture of sustainability in the city of Milan. After outlining the theoretical framework of the…

This contribution explores the findings of a phenomenological research investigating the trajectories of European youth engaged in public decision-making. Through in-depth interviews conducted with 26 representatives of European youth organisations, the study highlights how these young people…

The following study aims to analyze the effectiveness of four-year and five-year high school educational pathways within the context of Southern Italy. In this sense, the research aims to verify whether both paths can maintain the same qualitative standards regardless of their duration. Therefore, a…

For some time now, the prospects of the “learning city” paradigm have been discussed both in academia and within the policy-making communities. Speeches, publications, conferences and international congresses follow one another at short intervals, disseminating research results, interpretations…

The Learning City recognises the need to ensure the learning and well-being of its entire population, consistent with an inclusive approach according to the principle of ‘Leaving No One Behind’. It is precisely in the area of learning and wellbeing that culture plays a fundamental role, thus…

European research reveals that migrants’ basic citizenship educational rights are disrespected, despite the declared attempt to recognize their former qualifications or to give them access to education and training opportunities. This paper presents rationale and methodology of the capacity…

Over the past two years, I have been engaged in a professional community development process, which involved about sixty professionals in the sector in the Metropolitan City of Bologna. The focus of the process has been the educational skills in migrant reception contexts. In the path has been used…

Italy, facing the migration emergency, must tackle the trafficking of young Nigerian women, often minors, who are enslaved for prostitution. Reception policies are hampered by the infiltration of criminal networks into reception centers. Learning Italian becomes crucial for these women's…

A community is a place and a time in which different people mutually transform each other. The delicate balance between the welcoming process of young unaccompanied foreign minors in a structured but flexible context, the community in the Italian SAI system, is exercised between double absences,…

The article reflects on the processes of entry into reception systems through the life story of Hayat, a female migrant who arrived irregularly from Morocco and landed in reception after a long series of vicissitudes. What happens on the threshold between marginality, migration and the political and…

This contribution aims to highlight how educational action in school contexts in which migrant pupils are inserted, at times, leads to inclusive rhetoric, generating the so-called "exclusive inclusions", since, instead of promoting equity and integral development, it ends up fueling discrimination…

The paper analyzes integration strategies for asylum seekers and beneficiaries of international protection, as suggested by the Integration Strategy Framework and the Guidelines developed within the European AMIF project “INTEgreat”. Based on research conducted in five European cities (Athens,…

As of 30 June 2024, the number of unaccompanied immigrant minors in Italy was 20.206 (Ministero del Lavoro e delle Politiche Sociali, 2024) a figure that has been steadily increasing since 2022. More frequently, these minors arrive close to the age of majority, with urgent needs related to housing,…

In the context of integrated reception – understood as a holistic and emancipatory approach to care – the central element remains the creation of meaningful interpersonal and social relationships, that allow refugees to feel like active protagonists of a community. This paper presents a case…

The contribution returns the results of a research on the issue of the reception of trafficked women, with regard to the importance that a gender perspective can guarantee in the design and implementation of educational interventions aimed for them. The research highlighted the difficulties that…

The Safe Space was born in 2023 as a place of first reception for unaccompanied foreign minors. It is a groundbreaking project, the first of its kind in Italy, funded by the FAMI “CapaCe” fund, sees the Prefecture of Rome as lead organization, in partnership with Programma Integra s.c.s., the…

In the context of the reception and integration of refugees and applicants for international protection, digital technologies are emerging as fundamental tools to support social and educational inclusion paths. The following contribution reflects on the role of e-learning platforms and digital tools…

The Social Desk for Human Rights at the Ospedale Civico Benfratelli in Palermo represents an innovative model of integrated reception, capable of responding to the multidimensional needs of foreigners in an urban context marked by socio-health inequalities. Through linguistic and cultural mediation…

The article explores the phenomenon of trafficking through a postcolonial pedagogical perspective (Burgio, 2022), focusing on the fact that women and girls represent the majority of trafficking victims worldwide. According to the Global Report on Trafficking in Persons (2024), 60% of underage…

In the absence of a locally-based approach centred on human rights, the unsystematic model of the Italian education system risks to be fragile, incoherent, and devoid of substance. The practices of welcoming newly arrived students in schools represent a pivotal moment in the experience of young…

The integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Virtual Worlds in refugee education offers new opportunities for social inclusion, language learning, and digital empowerment. This study explores AI-powered digital storytelling as a pedagogical tool to support refugees in identity reconstruction…

This paper presents a case study on several associations dedicated to providing emergency assistance to both people on the move and asylum seekers in Italy. The analysis reveals that the high level of commitment and participation is intrinsically linked to the voluntary nature of the actions.…

This contribution explores the role and functions of the teacher-tutor in Italian schools, with particular attention to the tutoring actions dedicated to new recruits. Starting with a reflection about the initial and in-service teacher training, the paper then proceeds by exploring the peculiarities…

Teacher professionalism is characterized by a complex interaction between cultural, pedagogical, social, and specifically didactic competences, the result of an equally complex orchestration of knowledge, skills, beliefs and internal dispositions. Professional identity considered as a set of…

Since technological systems have been at the service of the teachers training, intelligent tutoring systems (ITS) have been used, often on an experimental basis, to support induction, that is the progressive entry of inexperienced teachers into the teaching profession. After recalling the…

The paper presents the outcomes of a Training-Research course initiated as part of the in-service training activities aimed at mentors of newly hired teachers in Lazio, designed and led by the Department of Education Sciences of the University of Roma Tre in agreement with the Regional School…

International literature has long argued that the most effective programs for initial and in-service teacher training are those that involve them in cyclical processes of action and reflection. This involves moving from a delivery-transmission type of training to forms that involve strong…

Since 2019, the Department of Educational Sciences of the Roma Tre University, in collaboration with the USR of Lazio, has designed and promoted a training course aimed at tutors of newly hired teachers in schools of different levels . Specifically, in this contribution, we report the opinions of…

The leadership style and soft skills of the tutor represent a determining factor during the induction phase of newly hired teachers. The exercise of good leadership allows the tutor to implement actions that combine the ability to meet the formative, methodological, communicative, and environmental…

The contribution examines the role of the interview as a useful tool for professional training supervision carried out by the Tutor Teacher in collaboration with the newly appointed Teacher. In recent years, the analyzes carried out in this area have given us positive results, confirming how…

This contribution presents the findings of an exploratory survey conducted by the Apulian Universities (UniBa, Unisalento, UniFG) and the Regional School Office for Apulia. The survey was designed to ascertain the experiences and training needs of tutors who work alongside teachers newly appointed…

Mentoring is internationally recognized as a critical component of the induction process for newly hired teachers. In Italy, this mentoring practice, known as peer-to-peer, was formalized with Ministerial Decree 850/2015 and further strengthened by Ministerial Decree 226/2022, which introduced a…

The tutor teacher for newly hired teachers plays a strategic role during their probationary year (Ridge & Lavigne, 2020; Fiorucci & Moretti, 2019; 2022) through the sharing of collaborative planning and tools for mutual observation in classroom, with the aim of facilitating the active…

Initial teacher training is a fundamental moment in the construction of a ‘great professional and scientific alliance’ between school and university (Bertagna, 2021). If the school represents the place of choice for the activation of transformative processes and models for our country (PNRR…

In this contribution I want to outline the figure of the tutor in the training process of newly hired teachers and reflect on the bond that is established between these educational partners in a specific context, such as that of infant school. The starting point of this reflection is the reform of…