ANNI 1998-99

Elena Besozzi (a cura di), Crescere tra appartenenze e diversità, Franco Angeli, Milano, 1999
In the contemporary Western societies, the diversities (in gender, age, ethnicity, language) are a matter of great importance. In a social and cultural reality that becomes more and more fragmented, local identities are growing, but at the other hand new phenomena of social distance and exclusion appear. The experience of diversity is fundamental during the socialisation, because the self comparison to the Other leads to individualisation as well as to identification. The research analyses the process of the identity forming in a sample of 1500 boys and girls teenagers (11-14 years) living in Milano in a multicultural context and what it means for their personality development: the survey has been run in 1998 by submitting a close-response questionnaire. Their identity seems to move backwards and forwards, combining different forms of contrasting elements, as localism and cosmopolitism, even if the interest for the social confrontation is always strong. It seems that the teenagers would face the others to define their own identity.
Key-words:Adolescent, youth culture, integration, multiculturality, identity

L. Benadusi, P. Landri, A. Viteritti (a cura di), L'autonomia prima dell'autonomia, (special issue of "Scuola Democratica"), Eucos, Roma, 1999.
Are here approached some problems raised by the experimental phase of the Italian policy aimed at recognizing autonomy to school institutions and the findings from some case studies are presented.

G.Giovannini (a cura di), Allievi in classe, stranieri in città, FrancoAngeli, Milano 1998 (II)
This book analyses the social representations of immigrant children by primary school teachers, both as pupils in their classrooms and new citizens in twelve Italian cities. The teachers describe themselves as generally supporting the newcomers in their classes, with some ambivalence and a balance between different relational perspectives towards immigrants children. The great majority thinks that diversity could be a resource for all pupils in the primary school, connecting multicultura education with the trends of the global society, but out of school the presence of migrants is largely seen as a problem or a risk from the economic, social or political point of view. Certainly, the 1894 teachers interviewed are free from strong social prejudices, but they are still involved in some prejudices, stereotyped images, attitudes of social distance.

AA.VV., Bambini extracomunitari a scuola: un modello di integrazione possibile, numero monografico di DSU, Rivista del Dipartimento di scienza dei processi conosciutivi, culturali e della comunicazione, Università di Genova, II 3, 1998
Bambini extracomunitari a scuola: un modello di integrazione possibile raises from a second research on local educational policies towards immigrant in several Italian cities. The research stresses the transition from emergency policies to structural policies; local authorities play a crucial role in coping with migration settlement and have positively sustained the dynamic of migration and youth education in urban contexts. Effective policies have some common elements, utilising a network approach, involving several actors, both public and private, as local authorities, local educational bodies, non profit associations. The research emphasizes the centrality of a general legal framework in which education appears as a public good, disposable for everybody, with no discrimination based on legal or illegal status.

Elena Besozzi (a cura di), Navigare tra formazione e lavoro, Carocci Editore, Roma 1998
Over the past fifty years, the pattern of self-realisation, the so-called 'achievement’ pattern - seems to have deeply changed, as a consequence of the changes in economy, culture and individual life styles. The transition from education to the job market is one of the most significant indicators of this change: there is not a linear passage between education and work, but a discontinuity all the life long. The essay explores this complex relationship connected to the recent social changes: first, it examines some theoretical contributions by sociologist of education and sociologist of work (concerning the lifelong learning, the models to combine study and work, the assessment of vocational and educational training); secondly, it presents some significant experiences (as learning on the job, work experience in enterprise, etc.). The essays stress the different aspects of this process, describing and supporting the theoretical approaches with some interesting research data.
Key-words:Transition, job market, qualification, discontinuty, vocational education and training