Educational Inequalities In Italian Common School: Empirical Evidences And Implications For Policies (original) (raw)

Educational Inequalities In Italian Common School: Empirical Evidences And Implications For Policies The common or comprehensive school model appeared in educational policies and debates in Italy between the end of the 50s and the beginning of the 6os, when attempts were made to put into ordinary laws the norms set out in the republican constitution (1948). According to these norms, the duration of compulsory schooling was to cover a period of “not less than eight years”. The debate led to the reform of 1962, which not only prolonged compulsory schooling but also introduced a “scuola media” (middle school) for all, with a three-year course after the end of “scuola elementare” (primary) instead of the three pre-existing streams: “scuola media”, “scuola di avviamento professionale” (starting vocational school) and post-elementary classes. Italian reformers of the period drew inspiration from the Swedish experience and socio-pedagogical literature - for example, the works of T. Husen - founded on principles of social equality of opportunity. These ideas had developed among political left-wingers (socialists and communists) and labor unions in Italy from the period in which the Resistance movement opposed the Fascist regime and as they continued to flourish following the birth of the Republic, they were gradually embraced also by Catholics and Catholic schoolteachers’ organizations. The aims of the reform were threefold: inclusion through expansion; equality of opportunity; the cultural unification of the country. Our paper proposes to assess the results of the reform fifty years on, analyzing whether and to what extent its aims have been achieved and with which side-effects (for example, impact on learning), also by adopting a comparative perspective. This analysis comes at a time in which the debate surrounding educational policy in Italy has seen the emergence of heavy criticism directed at the “scuola media”, which is considered to be the “weak link” in our national system. It is held to be responsible for the marked decrease both in efficacy and equity, which has been registered between the final years of primary school and the first years of upper secondary school by the IEA and OECD learning tests. According to those critics, this drop in the quality of learning is the result of an unrealistic and utopian quest for equality in the “scuola media”, and therefore questions not only the ways in which the reform was carried out, but the philosophy of the common school itself. Today, the justification of a “scuola media” remodelling through “counter-reforming” policies inspired by a meritocratic and elitist ideology is also attempted by adopting this interpretative hypothesis. The principal aim of the analysis we present here is to verify such a hypothesis. Our investigation forms part of quantitative sociological studies on educational inequalities, and will refer to the twofold concept of equality proposed by F. Dubet: égalité des chances and égalité des places or résultats. It will be based on the theoretical hypothesis proposed by supporters of comprehensive education and confirmed by the results of many empirical research, that the longer duration of the common school mitigates the influence of social origin on students’ scholastic choices. Method The analysis will operate on two distinct grounds: careers and learning outcomes. We shall try to highlight the relationships between the two grounds in order to verify the hypothesis that there is a spiral of inequalities proceeding from one to the other and generating a systematic bias. Furthermore, on one hand we shall attempt to understand in what measure the inequalities at the end of “scuola media” have their origins either within that school itself or previously, that is within “scuola elementare”. And, on the other, in what measure the inequalities found after the first two years of upper secondary school are either an inheritance from the previous scholastic pathway or can be attributed to the impact of students’ socio-cultural background on their channel choice and experience within it. The analysis will be based on the joint use of TIMMS 2007 and PISA 2009 data, adopting a pseudo-panel technique. It will allow us to estimate the effects of individual variables (socio-cultural background, gender, scholastic career) on learning outcomes in the 3rd year of “scuola media” (8th grade) and at age 15 in a first phase, and the cumulative effect of inequalities throughout students’ school career in a second. Expected Outcomes In light of the outcome of our analysis, we shall resume the discussion centred on the experience of common school in Italy, with all its strengths and weaknesses, also in relation to the current debate on the reform of upper secondary school. From this point of view, of great interest is the transition from low to upper secondary school, a crucial point for educational inequalities, given that at age 15 students’ performances vary very strongly between channels and the choices of channel are strongly influenced by students’ social origins. We shall, in fact, be able to distinguish the effect of social origin on the choice passing through learned competencies and that passing through students’ expectations, knowing that they can suggest different equity policies. The results of the analysis will provide elements useful in assessing the consequences of applying the common school model in Italy, as well as in reconsidering the relationships to be established by the “scuola media” with both the previous and the subsequent scholastic level. In fact, an important weakness of the Italian “scuola media” seems to be the lack of integration of the entire compulsory school within a logic of commonality aimed at both equity and quality.