Educazione alla cittadinanza per cittadini immigrati adulti. Il contributo della formazione linguistico-giuridica all'acquisizione di competenze di cittadinanza in lingua seconda

The research examines which cultural and linguistic instruments can be offered to provide adult migrants with formative access to citizenship competences. Starting from the questions: How can individuals of all community groups present in a nation-state acquire high standards of linguistic, sociolinguistic and discourse competences in order to be fully integrated, that is to participate and be included in social activities in the public domain such as work and institutional environments? How are these competencies developed in an educational context? How do adult migrants behave linguistically in this context, according to their needs and motivations? The research hypothesis aimed at outlining a formative project of citizenship education targeted at adult foreign citizens, where a central role is assigned both to law education and linguistic education. Acoordingly, as the study considered if the introduction of a law programme in a second language course could be conceived as an opportunity to further the access to active citizenship and social participation, a corpus of audiodata was collected in law classes of an Italian adult professional course attended by a 50% of foreign students. The observation was conducted on teacher and learner talk and learner participation in classroom interaction when curriculum legal topics were introduced and discussed. In the classroom law discourse two dimensions were analyzed: the legal knowledge construction and the participants’ interpersonal and identity construction. From the analysis, the understanding is that drawn that law classes seem to represent an educational setting where foreign citizens have an opportunity to learn and practise citizenship. The social and pragmatic approach to legal contents plays a relevant role, in a subject which, in non-academic contexts, loses its technical specificity and refers to law as a product of social representation. In the observed educational environment, where students are adults who bring into the classroom multiple personal and social identities, legal topics have the advantage of increasing adult migrants’ motivation to ‘go back to school’ as they are likely to give hints, if not provide solutions, to problems relating to participation in socio-institutional activities. At the same time, these contents offer an ideal context where individuals can acquire high discourse competences and citizenship skills, such as agency and critical reflection. Besides, the analysis reveals that providing adult learners with materials that focus on rights, politics and the law, i.e. with materials which stimulate discussion on concerns affecting their daily lives, is welcomed by learners themselves, who might appreciate the integration of these same topics in a second language course.

Il reddito di cittadinanza tra workfare e metamorfosi del lavoro: una prospettiva giuslavoristica

L'elaborato analizza il tema del reddito di cittadinanza, nella sue diverse accezioni, indagandone le interferenze con la disciplina giulavoristica e previdenziale alla luce delle metamorfosi del lavoro. Dopo aver ricostruito la genealogia del concetto di lavoro e, con esso, dei sistemi di sicurezza sociale, esaminiamo de jure condito le misure di sostegno al reddito in Italia, con particolare accento sulla tutela contro la disoccupazione e sul reddito di cittadinanza, senza trascurare, nondimeno, le misure straordinarie messe in campo durante l'emergenza pandemica. Infine, chiedendoci quale significato assuma oggi il lavoro in un contesto caratterizzato da flessibilità e precarietà, analizzeremo dapprima le possibilità di riforma delle misure vigenti nel nostro ordinamento (dagli ammortizzatori sociali al reddito di cittadinanza), spingendoci poi de jure condendo verso la possibile declinazione di un reddito di base incondizionato, provando a ripensare alcune tradizionali categorie giuslavoristiche, a partire dalle nozioni di mansione, tempo di lavoro e retribuzione, chiedendoci se il lavoro possa avere un orizzonte di senso che vada oltre il fare in cambio di un salario.

Educazione civica e competenze di cittadinanza: un'indagine su approcci e atteggiamenti degli insegnanti nella scuola secondaria

Con questo lavoro si vuole contribuire al dibattito riapertosi con il ritorno dell’Educazione civica in tutte le scuole italiane, a seguito dell’entrata in vigore della Legge 92/2019, in particolare valorizzando il punto di vista degli insegnanti. La ricerca è impostata secondo il disegno quantitativo dell’indagine correlazionale su ampio campione, preparata da una fase esplorativa durante la quale si sono svolte interviste semistrutturate a dieci docenti. A partire dai risultati di tale esplorazione, si è prodotto un questionario che è stato testato e revisionato nell’a.s. 2020-2021. Successivamente si sono condotte due diverse rilevazioni nell’a.s. 2021-2022: la prima su un campione rappresentativo degli insegnanti di scuola secondaria dell’Emilia-Romagna (main study), e la seconda su un campione non rappresentativo su base nazionale (rilevazione di approfondimento). I risultati dell’indagine fanno emergere un’accoglienza parziale delle innovazioni introdotte con la “nuova” Educazione civica. Le maggiori difficoltà si osservano rispetto alla progettazione collegiale dell’insegnamento, che la normativa vorrebbe affidato in contitolarità a tutto il Consiglio di classe, ma rispetto al quale sembra realizzarsi principalmente una “spartizione” delle ore, a cui fanno fronte attività gestite separatamente dai singoli insegnanti. Approcci e pratiche coerenti con i modelli della didattica per competenze tardano ad affermarsi per questo insegnamento, nonostante si siano osservate prime evidenze favorevoli in tal senso. I risultati sollevano il bisogno di maggiore accompagnamento e supporto dei docenti nell’implementazione collegiale di un curricolo di Educazione civica intenzionalmente orientato allo sviluppo delle competenze di cittadinanza.

Who can (not) be Greek? Citizenship, Identity and Belonging among youth of sub-Saharan African background in Athens

‘Who can be Greek?’ This was the question posed to the Greek society for the first time before the implementation of the Act 3838 in March 2010 which gave the right to access the Greek citizenship -under specific preconditions- to all children of legal migrants born or schooled in Greece. This change of the Nationality Code in order to include all those children was coincided by the economic crisis resulting into the rise of xenophobia, racism and extreme-right rhetoric. The outcome was the cancellation of the Act 3838 by the State Council in February 2013. Under this particular framework, the notions of identity and belonging formed among the youth of African background in Athens are explored. The ways those youngsters perceive not only themselves but also their peers, their countries of origin and the country they live in, are crucial elements of their self-identification. Researches have shown that the integration of the second generation is highly connected to their legal and social status. However, integration is a rather complex process, influenced and shaped by many variables and multiple factors. It is not linear; therefore, its outcomes are difficult to be predicted. Yet, I argue that citizenship acquisition facilitates the process as it transforms those children from ‘aliens’ to ‘citizens’. How these youngsters are perceived by the majority society and the State is one of the core questions of the research, focusing on the imposed dual ‘otherness’ they are subject to. On the one hand, they have to deal with the ‘otherness’ originating from the migrant status inherited to them by their parents, and on the other with the ‘otherness’ deriving from their different phenotypic characteristics. Race matters and becomes a means of discrimination against youth of African background who are perceived as inassimilable and ‘forever others’.

Social inclusion of vulnerable groups through participatory and emancipatory approaches. Implementing active citizenship and socially innovative actions in the framework of civil & human rights model of disability

The research hypothesis of the thesis is that “an open participation in the co-creation of the services and environments, makes life easier for vulnerable groups”; assuming that the participatory and emancipatory approaches are processes of possible actions and changes aimed at facilitating people’s lives. The adoption of these approaches is put forward as the common denominator of social innovative practices that supporting inclusive processes allow a shift from a medical model to a civil and human rights approach to disability. The theoretical basis of this assumption finds support in many principles of Inclusive Education and the main focus of the hypothesis of research is on participation and emancipation as approaches aimed at facing emerging and existing problems related to inclusion. The framework of reference for the research is represented by the perspectives adopted by several international documents concerning policies and interventions to promote and support the leadership and participation of vulnerable groups. In the first part an in-depth analysis of the main academic publications on the central themes of the thesis has been carried out. After investigating the framework of reference, the analysis focuses on the main tools of participatory and emancipatory approaches, which are able to connect with the concepts of active citizenship and social innovation. In the second part two case studies concerning participatory and emancipatory approaches in the areas of concern are presented and analyzed as example of the improvement of inclusion, through the involvement and participation of persons with disability. The research has been developed using a holistic and interdisciplinary approach, aimed at providing a knowledge-base that fosters a shift from a situation of passivity and care towards a new scenario based on the person’s commitment in the elaboration of his/her own project of life.

Gender equality and human development in Macedonia during transition (1991-2006)

The present thesis treats the issue of gender equality in Macedonia during the period of transition from the socialist system to the one of parliamentary democracy. The main aim is to mainstream the gender perspective in the analysis of the transitional policies through the examination of the basic citizenship rights to which citizens are entitled and by the means of the evaluation of their capabilities to exercise these rights. Gender equality, as one of the main strongholds of the concept of human development is measured through the application of nine gender relevant capabilities in a Case study conducted within selected municipalities in the country. Through the analysis of the Macedonian constitutional and legal framework and the assessment of gender based inequalities, the research questions the need for the enactment of a process of engendering of citizenship, which would integrate gender based differences, contemplate the private sphere of citizens lives and pledge participation in the political life of the country. The thesis, finally, analyses the gender equality strategy of the Macedonian government with the purpose to evaluate whether it is context based, i.e. it tackles the main fields where inequalities emerge and in this context whether it envisages a process of engendering of citizenship.

Burnout and work engagement among teachers: an application of the job demands-resources model

The present dissertation focuses on burnout and work engagement among teachers, with especial focus on the Job-Demands Resources Model: Chapter 1 focuses on teacher burnout. It aims to investigate the role of efficacy beliefs using negatively worded inefficacy items instead of positive ones and to establish whether depersonalization and cynism can be considered two different dimensions of the teacher burnout syndrome. Chapter 2 investigates the factorial validity of the instruments used to measure work engagement (i.e. Utrecht Work Engagement Scale, UWES-17 and UWES-9). Moreover, because the current study is partly longitudinal in nature, also the stability across time of engagement can be investigated. Finally, based on cluster-analyses, two groups that differ in levels of engagement are compared as far as their job- and personal resources (i.e. possibilities for personal development, work-life balance, and self-efficacy), positive organizational attitudes and behaviours (i.e., job satisfaction and organizational citizenship behaviour) and perceived health are concerned. Chapter 3 tests the JD-R model in a longitudinal way, by integrating also the role of personal resources (i.e. self-efficacy). This chapter seeks answers to questions on what are the most important job demands, job and personal resources contributing to discriminate burned-out teachers from non-burned-out teachers, as well as engaged teachers from non-engaged teachers. Chapter 4 uses a diary study to extend knowledge about the dynamic nature of the JD-R model by considering between- and within-person variations with regard to both motivational and health impairment processes.