Session Information
99 ERC SES 04 E, Social Justice and Intercultural Education
Paper Session
Contribution
The research work falls within the framework of the educational poverty phenomenon, which, thanks to the contributions of studies and research, as well as a legislative path incentivized – also – by advocacy efforts from the Third Sector (Save the Children, 2014), has become central in recent years in scientific and political discourse, entering the realm of public policy agendas.
The notion of poverty in the educational context emerged in the social sciences discourse in the late 1990s to draw attention to the multidimensionality of the poverty phenomenon (Anand & Sen, 1997), not entirely reducible to purely economic aspects.
Over the past two decades, there has been extensive discourse in the literature regarding the significance of measuring and analyzing educational poverty (Allmendinger & Leibfried, 2003; Lohmann & Ferger, 2014). It has been emphasized that the impact of educational deprivation is subtle, creating a gap during a vulnerable period that proves challenging to overcome later in life (Battilocchi, 2020). An initial disadvantage can result in a crystallization of the same across different generations and transform cultural factors into hereditary elements, in a vicious circle of poverty.
Numerous international and national organizations have directed attention to poverty and educational challenges, with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development addressing these issues (United Nations General Assembly, 2015). Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 1 emphasizes the need to eradicate poverty in all its forms, while SDG 4 aims to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education, promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all. Moreover, many European strategies and recommendations have focused on addressing issues related to poverty and education, starting with the Lisbon Strategy (European Council, 2000).
In this context, accurate measures of educational poverty are crucial for designing effective policy interventions, and local data play a vital role in tailoring actions to specific communities. A review of the scientific literature reveals that the dimensions and measures of educational poverty are not fully developed. In fact, despite numerous studies on the subject (Agasisti et al., 2021; Botezat, 2016), there is still a lack of shared theorization of this notion to date. Educational poverty is understood as a polysemic concept with broad semantic boundaries, multidimensional, and depicted by a poly-perspective characterization. It can be described as a world of deprivation and exclusion that pertains to various forms of educational deprivation, impeding the full development of human potential.
Building on this perspective, this research aims to investigate the phenomenon of educational poverty among minors from migrant backgrounds, who «are particularly exposed to educational poverty due to more challenging family and economic conditions, bureaucratic obstacles, inequalities in accessing high school tracks, and early school dropout» (IDOS Research and Study Center & Institute of Political Studies S. Pio V, 2021, p. 98).
In particular, the investigation is guided by the following research question: 1) What differences can be identified between minors with and without a migratory background regarding the phenomenon of educational poverty? 2) What are the characteristics of the phenomenon of educational poverty among minors from migrant backgrounds? 3) How do some of the most relevant factors, such as socio-economic background, gender, and type of migratory background, influence the educational poverty of minors from migrant backgrounds?
Method
The research employed a quantitative approach. Indeed, the extensive nature of the research object and the descriptive and explanatory nature of the investigation's objective suggested the use of this perspective, albeit with an awareness of the unique visual angle through which reality was observed, thus acknowledging the limitations of the acquired knowledge. Specifically, the survey technique was chosen, involving the administration of a self-completed semi-structured questionnaire with group data collection to a statistically representative sample of 1761 students enrolled in the third year of lower secondary school in the academic year 2021/2022 in the municipality of Rome. The questionnaire was designed to capture the basic sociographic properties, attitudes, and behaviors of the subjects. It consisted of six sections: 1) sociodemographic characteristics of the participants, including migratory background, gender, and age. 2) Participants' school experience, focusing on their relationship with studying, family expectations, students' emotional and relational experiences, and their academic path. 3) Future perspectives of students and their families regarding the path to be taken after lower secondary school and their career prospects. 4) Leisure time and engagement in educational or social activities, such as sports, extracurricular activities, and attendance of cultural places and events. 5) Socio-economic-cultural environment of the participants, with specific reference to the education level and occupational status of parents, and material conditions. 6) The neighborhood and the characteristics of the territory in which the students lived, with particular attention to the presence and attendance of educational and social facilities. The questionnaire included both closed-ended questions (31), semi-closed-ended questions (16), and open-ended questions (9), totaling 56 questions. Since the research specifically focused on students from migratory backgrounds, a stratified probability sampling design was chosen, allowing to increase the efficiency of the sample in the presence of areas of greater homogeneity (Cohen et al., 2007). To implement this sampling design, it was deemed appropriate to divide the population of the schools into strata based on the variable 'percentage of students with non-Italian citizenship,' considered as a proxy for the percentage of students from migratory backgrounds for which official data are not available. Data processing was carried out using IBM SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences), version 28.0.1. Specifically, univariate analysis was conducted for each question to describe the studied phenomenon, and bivariate analysis aimed to study the relationship between each variable and the background.
Expected Outcomes
From the analysis of the responses, it emerges that students from migratory backgrounds generally experience school less favorably compared to their peers without migratory backgrounds, they have future expectations profoundly influenced by their migratory background, engage in educational or social activities less regularly, and have less access to certain educational opportunities due to the disadvantages often associated with their socio-economic-cultural environment and territorial context. Therefore, it appears that students with migratory backgrounds not only often face more challenging academic paths on average but also have reduced access to non-formal and informal educational opportunities due to various socio-economic-cultural disadvantages. Consequently, it can be concluded that minors with migratory backgrounds are at a higher risk of educational poverty compared to their peers without migratory backgrounds. In order to contribute to the development of prevention and intervention strategies against educational poverty among minors from migratory backgrounds, it is essential to adopt a multidimensional and intercultural approach (Fiorucci, 2017; Portera, 2019). This approach should acknowledge the complexity of the phenomenon at hand and aim to promote quality educational opportunities (Dewey, 1938), individual and community empowerment (Curti et al., 2020), awareness, and self-determination (Freire, 1968/2017), strengthening capabilities (Nussbaum, 2011; Sen, 1999), and fostering active and conscious citizenship. The ultimate goal is to promote the flourishing of human potential. Aware of the complexity of the addressed issue and the limitations of the adopted approach, this study can make a significant contribution to understanding the phenomenon of educational poverty, particularly among minors with migratory backgrounds. By doing so, it enriches the existing scientific discourse and supports the development of new prevention and intervention measures against educational poverty.
References
Agasisti, T., Longobardi, S., Prete, V., & Russo, F. (2021). The relevance of educational poverty in Europe: Determinants and remedies. Journal of Policy Modeling, 43, 692–709. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpolmod.2020.03.015 Allmendinger, J., & Leibfried, S. (2003). Education and the welfare state: the four worlds of competence production. Journal of European Social Policy, 13(1), 63-81. Anand, S., & Sen, A. K. (1997). Concepts of Human Development and Poverty: A Multidimensional Perspective. Poverty and Human Development: Human Development Papers 1997, 1-20. Battilocchi, G. L. (2020). Educational poverty in Italy: concepts, measures and policies. Central European Journal of Educational Research, 2(1), 1-10. Botezat, A. (2016). Educational poverty. NESET II ad hoc question No. 5/2016. https://nesetweb.eu/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/AHQ5_Educational-Poverty.pdf Cohen L., Manion L., & Morrison K. (2007), Research Methods in Education. Routledge. Curti, S., Fornari, S., & Moroni, E. (2020). Educating communities as a protection network against educational poverty. QTimes webmagazine, 12(4), 332-344. Dewey, J. (1938). Experience and Education. Macmillan Company. European Council (2000). Lisbon European Council 23 And 24 March 2000. Presidency conclusions. https://www.europarl.europa.eu/summits/lis1_en.htm Fiorucci, M. (2017). Educatori e mediatori culturali: elementi per la formazione interculturale degli educatori. Pedagogia oggi, 15(2), 75-90. Freire, P. (2017). Pedagogy of the oppressed. Penguin Books. (Original edition published in 1968) General Assembly of the United Nations (2015). Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (A/RES/70/1). https://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/migration/generalassembly/docs/globalcompact/A_RES_70_1_E.pdf IDOS Research and Study Center & Institute of Political Studies S. Pio V (2021). Osservatorio sulle migrazioni a Roma e nel Lazio: sedicesimo rapporto. IDOS Research and Study Center. Lohmann, H., & Ferger, F. (2014). Educational Poverty in a Comparative Perspective: Theoretical and Empirical Implications [SFB 882 Working Paper Series n. 26]. DFG Research Center (SFB) 882 From Heterogeneities to Inequalities. https://pub.uni-bielefeld.de/download/2651911/2651912/SFB_882_WP_0026_Lohmann_Ferger.pdf Nussbaum, M. C. (2011). Creating Capabilities: The Human Development Approach. Harvard University Press. Portera, A. (2019). Dal multiculturalismo all’educazione e alle competenze (realmente) interculturali. Educazione Interculturale, 17(2), 1-10. Save the Children (2014). La lampada di Aladino. L’indice di Save the Children per misurare le povertà educative e illuminare il futuro dei bambini in Italia. Save the Children Italia. https://s3.savethechildren.it/public/files/uploads/pubblicazioni/la-lampada-di-aladino.pdf Sen, A. K. (1999). Development as Freedom. Oxford University Press.
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