Tutors’ relational professionalism and care-based personalisation in Italy: facilitating innovation in a formalist school culture

ABSTRACT

Progressivist approaches to teaching and learning are rare in the Italian school system. Equality of inputs, whole class teaching and curriculum transmission are preferred. However, the case of a vocational education and training (VET) programme, run by a private State-recognised school, shows a way forward to introduce personalised approaches in school systems characterised by formalist pedagogies. Constructivist teaching and personalised education are not, as a rule, promoted by teachers at the classroom level, due to a complexity of structural and organisational reasons that this paper will present. The difficult task of supporting fragile pupils who have experienced failure within the State school system is addressed by tutors-educators operating at the school and individual levels. We show how tutors’ relational professionalism and their role of care are valuable instructional and educational resources. The data reported are based on direct observations, semi-structured interviews, and follow-up focus groups with key actors in the field. This theory-testing case study shows how a formalist culture has evolved into a student-centred organisational model. The ‘affective’ aspect of justice in schools represents a way forward to facilitate radical innovation in formalist cultures, in order to adapt teaching and learning to all students.

KEYWORDS:

• Personalisation
• Italian education
• relational professionalism
• tutors’ professionalism

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Monica Mincu

Dr. Monica Mincu is an Associate Professor in comparative education with the Department of Philosophy and Education, University of Turin, and a Lecturer in educational leadership with the Institute of Education, University College London. She has acted as a consultant with UNESCO and other major Italian NGOs. She engages with education politics and governance from a social change and equity perspective.

Paolo Nardi

Dr. Paolo Nardi is an International Affairs and Research Officer at Cometa VET Centre (Italy), act as a coordinator of the UNESCO-UNEVOC Centre for Italy, and is a co-opted Board Member of VETNET. He holds a Ph.D. in International Law and Economics from Bocconi University. His research interests include social innovation, community development, and life skills pedagogy.