Merit and meritocracy are two terms that in recent years have been increasingly seen as synonymous of fairness and justice. But is it really so? In the course of history, they have been analyzed from the philosophical, juridical, political, economic, pedagogical point of view, but from whatever point of view we analyze them, it is evident that concepts like merit and meritocracy present some criticalities. Through an examination of some of the main and most recent studies published at national and international level, this proposal wants to share a pedagogical reading of these two concepts that can account for the different theories, paradigms and concrete declinations that have concerned these two terms since the publication of Michael Young's book "The rise of the meritocracy" (1958).

The belief that peoples are naturally endowed with skills, talent and intelligence and that these differences then decide their social position is nothing more than a justification for confirming the social hierarchy, whereas according to the most recent studies the opposite is true (Turner 2020, Dickerson & Popli 2016). Often, when we talk about merit in education, we tend to use objective and measurable results as the only yardstick. However, it is often the case that the students who achieve the best results are those who, at the same time, start from a position of advantage, which is first and foremost socio-economic and, consequently, of training and educational opportunities (Bertagna 2020, Ostry & Berg & Tsangarides 2014). Children's different life circumstances influence the subsequent development of their educational pathways (Pickett, Wilkinson, 2019); the school setting and education policies often cannot solve the problems of poverty and inequality. 

The research aims to analyse which conceptions of merit and meritocracy apply in today's school systems and consequently which effects the application of such a meritocratic system can generate in schools in terms of educational poverty, school drop-out, growth and educational opportunities.

The meritocratic ideal will be analysed from a pedagogical point of view, according to which only someone is worthwhile and at this stage a comparison will be made with works of international literature (Deneault 2015, Mendler 2020, Sandel 2020, Goodhart 2020, Markovits 2019) that have recently revived the concept of merit in work and school environments, together with a comparison of scientific research in order to build a complete and definite picture of how much the starting condition, whether it be family, social or economic, influences the lives of individuals even before they are born, and consequently how this undermines the ideal of merit and meritocracy as a universally pursuable concept.

The research starts from an anthropological and pedagogical paradigm which focuses on the person, unique and unrepeatable, endowed with talents and capabilities (Bertagna 2020; Alessandrini, 2016), opposed to the idea of self-sufficiency and autarky, recognising instead the freedoms of others and variety, which unlike uniformity is the only way to build a life that allows for the recognition and enhancement of the talents of each person. The main result expected is to conduct a reinterpretation of the category of merit and to start an investigation related to the correlation that exists between merit, social inequalities and educational poverty, with pedagogical repercussions, which consequently structure the future of the individual within the educational institution and from which his or her position in society then inevitably derives.

In order to verify the above, first of all a methodological framework is foreseen in order to precisely identify the ways of conducting empirical research in educational and school contexts (Mortari and Ghirotto 2019) through quanti-qualitative research. Both will involve secondary schools in the territory of Bergamo province (high schools, technical and vocational institutes, regional vocational training centres). The quantitative part will be carried out through the administration of anonymous questionnaires to school leaders, teachers and students of the last two years in order to investigate first of all the vision of merit/meritocracy in schools today according to a pedagogical reading, in its epistemological and ordinamental dimensions (Bertagna and Ulivieri, 2017). Among the questions that will guide this part of the research are the following: What do merit and meritocracy really mean? What concept of merit do you see practised in your school? How are the talents of each individual valued? How do you combat educational poverty? How does the assessment of learning contribute to enhancing the merit and talents of everyone and not merely selecting the best? Then, in the qualitative part of the survey, through semi-structured interviews and focus groups, we will try to further deepen the first results that emerged from the quantitative analysis. First of all, it will be investigated which vision of merit teachers and students have in a high school in Bergamo. Subsequently, the data will be studied with an in-depth bibliographic analysis. The aim is to show how everyone, without exception, has a talent that can be put to good use in relationships with others and with the world around them, and how the meritocratic paradigm, so conceived, fails to bring this out. The ultimate aim is to come up with a pedagogical paradigm that overcomes educational inequalities in order to ensure better educational opportunities for all. The research sought answers to the following research questions: • What pedagogical indications can help overcome educational inequalities to ensure better educational opportunities and to bring out the talents of each individual? • What paradigms does an international literary review suggest? • What idea of merit, meritocracy and talent emerges from qualitative research?

Through a survey by means of anonymous questionnaires administered to pupils, followed by their analysis and comparison, together with an in-depth bibliographical study on the subject, we expect to demonstrate how the meritocratic ideal does not really reflect what we should expect from meritocracy: opportunity, equality, redemption. At the very least, we are closer than ever to the idea of meritocracy, where an individual's social position is determined solely by his or her IQ and objectively measurable results, without taking into account more or less latent talents, which may be manifested in contexts beyond the school walls, thus considering alternating training as a pedagogical paradigm for the enhancement of merit that takes into account the unity of the individual's training process in formal and informal contexts. Our society's appreciation of those who are faster, more able, thus becomes a centrifugal force which, pushes more and more people away from places of learning. More or less directly, it increases the sense of inadequacy and ends up perpetuating socio-economic inequalities. Even the place where you are born and can afford to live affects your performance (your spending power and your pace of life can be decisive for the outcome of your education). The rhetoric of meritocracy punishes those who do not make it without asking why, leaving many behind and exploiting them in an exasperated race for success. Instead, we need to return to a broader pedagogical paradigm, capable of enhancing the talents of each individual for the good and growth of all.

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