Papers by Rina Manuela M Contini
A new intercultural framework for education is being developed as a pedagogical response to incre... more A new intercultural framework for education is being developed as a pedagogical response to increasingly multi-ethnic societies in Europe. This framework has been gaining ground during the last decade within EU Institutions (Commission of the European Communities, European Commission, Council of Ministers, OECD, OSCE) and the Council of Europe Documents and replacing multiculturalism as the guiding framework. This shift has generated an ardent debate between multiculturalists and interculturalists. Indeed, there is much criticism of the interculturalist framework. This article positions itself within this current debate and offers a critical analysis of the conceptual mapping of interculturalism within which there are tensions, ambiguities, and often conflicting goals and strategies. In addition, this work highlights the problematic dynamics intrinsic in the theoretical framework of interculturalism as a political and philosophical framework as well as in its pedagogical manifestati...
Italian Journal of Sociology of Education, 2018
Italian schools are increasingly diverse spaces in which children of different racial and ethnic ... more Italian schools are increasingly diverse spaces in which children of different racial and ethnic backgrounds, religious beliefs, and cultural-linguistic practices interact daily. Thus, these spaces provide fertile ground for a continuum of relational experiences from positive intergroup relationships and friendships to tensions and experiences of discrimination and marginalization. Research has demonstrated that diverse spaces can be ideal for positive intergroup contact, intergroup dialogue and the formation of intergroup friendship, which have been associated with prejudice reduction and a decrease in intergroup anxiety. Employing a theoretical framework based on intergroup contact theory (Allport, 1954) and research on intergroup friendships, (Pettigrew & Tropp, 2000; 2008; Pettigrew, Tropp, Wagner, & Christ, 2011; Lease & Blake, 2005) this article adds to a nascent interest in sociology of education research on intergroup relations and friendships in Italian multiethnic schools....
https://www.francoangeli.it/Ricerca/Scheda_libro.aspx?CodiceLibro=1043.69 Parallelamente al diffu... more https://www.francoangeli.it/Ricerca/Scheda_libro.aspx?CodiceLibro=1043.69 Parallelamente al diffuso rigetto del multiculturalismo, in Europa si è accelerata la spinta verso l'interculturalismo, sostenuto dai documenti istituzionali come nuova forma di politica dell'integrazione, che risponde all'esigenza, divenuta prevalente, di governance democratica della diversità culturale e di promozione della coesione sociale. L'interculturalismo è presentato come àncora di salvezza nella diagnosi negativa del multiculturalismo, accusato di essere responsabile della frammentazione sociale. In tale contesto l'educazione interculturale viene individuata come la forza motrice dell'interculturalismo e della formazione di competenze interculturali. Il volume, collocandosi nell'attuale dibattito interculturalism vs multiculturalism e andando al di là della retorica unity in diversity, offre un'analisi critica del paradigma interculturale mettendone in luce gli apporti e le problematicità a più livelli: il concetto, le declinazioni in ambito educativo, la traduzione dell'intercultura in effettive prassi educative, esaminata anche attraverso la discussione dei risultati di una ricerca empirica condotta tra insegnanti e dirigenti scolastici nelle scuole abruzzesi. Il testo fornisce un contributo all'avanzamento della concettualizzazione e dell'operativizzazione dell'intercultura in educazione e alla ricerca di nuove soluzioni per l'introduzione dell'intercultura nel mondo della scuola.
Social Justice Education in European Multi-ethnic Schools, 2018
Europe is a multi-ethnic society experiencing a rise of anti-immigration, racist, xenophobic disc... more Europe is a multi-ethnic society experiencing a rise of anti-immigration, racist, xenophobic discourses, and right-wing political rhetoric and movements proposing legislation to further solidify structural inequality and institutionalized systems of oppression that fuel educational inequalities. This book brings together researchers in the fields of sociology and education to examine debates in multicultural and intercultural education. Drawing on critical theory, the book takes and in-depth look at how these challenges are being addressed (or not addressed) in educational contexts and as a conceptual and educational framework by the European Union over the last two decades.
Living in Two Homes, 2017
Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2014
In Italy, the rapid increase of foreign students has represented a test for the traditional tende... more In Italy, the rapid increase of foreign students has represented a test for the traditional tendency of the Italian school to inclusion. The Italian regulation on migration shows a model of school that is integrative and intercultural. The intercultural dimension involves all the school, which has the duty to create equal possibilities to learning, justice and equity. Interculturality, as a specific objective of a school undergoing transformation, requires the complementarity of action lines that include the integration of immigrant students and intercultural exchange in scholastic and extra-scholastic relations, in the knowledge and the competences. The study investigates-through the analysis of the results of an empirical research carried out through the administration of a questionnaire on a sample of over 1300 Italian and foreign preadolescents attending the second and third year of secondary schools of first degree in Abruzzo, in the centre of Italy-the experience of preadolescents in a transforming society and school, that are characterized in growing measure by a multiple living together, with the intention to deepen inclinations that are being shaped among new generations as regards integration and the formation of social bonds.
Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2013
The experience of citizenship and its formal asset have undergone changes, because of the movemen... more The experience of citizenship and its formal asset have undergone changes, because of the movement of people and because of the progressive multiculturality of contemporary societies (Kymlicka, 1995; Council of Europe, 2008).Citizenship has always been at the heart of education and of the development of educational systems, both as a social task that modern society rever ses on the school and as a concept that summarises the question of equal opportunities before education (Nesse Network, 2008).In the paper-through the analysis of the results of a statistical investigation carried out on a sample of 1314 Italian and foreign preadolescents attending secondary school in the Abruzzo Region (Italy)-the following topics have been considered: the question of the changing idea of citizenship and the necessity to reconsider citizenship with an expression of the universal applications of human rights with particular ones of single national facts and of single groups or people; the question of the right to be education and of the interventions that allow the full implementation of such a right. In this context, the concept of human capital is reconsidered considering two other key concepts, those of social capital and cultural capital (Bourdieu, 1980; Coleman, 1988).
Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2010
This research has the objective to focus the attention on a specific dimension of the scholastic ... more This research has the objective to focus the attention on a specific dimension of the scholastic experience of foreign and autochthonous students that is to say that of the school as a place where to create cross-cultural relations. The choice to focus on this area answers the requirements to examine an aspect of the scholastic experience of foreign and Italian students still not much investigated, but that today is quite meaningful. Indeed, is characterized in an increasing way by a plural experience-in the classrooms there are a multiplicity of languages, cultural backgrounds and differentiated levels-and is at the centre of the issue of the quality of the future living together in the multi-ethnic society, as a key institution for the promotion of social cohesion, as well as the acquisition of the necessary competences for the economic and political integration of the citizens of tomorrow (Ambrosini, 2008; Cesareo, 2008). The perspective of cross-cultural teaching is seen as central within the European orientations and the Italian regulations, because the migrations can represent a precious resource on a cultural and educational level only if they are integrated in a continuous process of cross-cultural exchange (
Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2010
Lately sociology of education has had to deal with complex challenges and the rise of new social ... more Lately sociology of education has had to deal with complex challenges and the rise of new social phenomenon: the impact of migration processes and global fluxes in the different contexts of instruction, the strategies for social inclusion, the demand of citizenship expressed by the "new generations". Citizenship is in the current context multiform meaning on the social and individual and is tied both to the matter of the formation of the citizen in the rights and duties, and on the matter of the right to education and of recognizing the full dignity of everyone, the right of difference and diversity. The essential knot of citizenship is given by "equal opportunities". The contribution suggest the results of a research carried outwith the administration of a questionnaire-to Italian preadolescents and foreigners attending secondary schools of first degree in the Abruzzo Region (Italy). Different aspects concerning scholastic success, creation of social relations and building of citizenship and living together were taken into consideration. The data obtained from the answers to the questionnaire are analyzed with the tools of the multivariate statistics in order to have information on the latent sociological trends of the multi-cultural society in Italy.
MTISD 2008. Methods, Models and …, 2008
Abstract: Si mostra come la logica fuzzy può essere uno strumento adeguato per affrontare problem... more Abstract: Si mostra come la logica fuzzy può essere uno strumento adeguato per affrontare problemi complessi in campo sociale, come quello dell'integrazione scolastica degli alunni stranieri. Si presenta lo studio di un caso in cui, in base ad una indagine svolta con interviste ad ...
Europe is a multi-ethnic society experiencing a rise of anti-immigration, racist, xenophobic disc... more Europe is a multi-ethnic society experiencing a rise of anti-immigration, racist, xenophobic discourses, and right-wing political rhetoric and movements proposing legislation to further solidify structural inequality and institutionalized systems of oppression that fuel educational inequalities. This book brings together researchers in the fields of sociology and education to examine debates in multicultural and intercultural education. Drawing on critical theory, the book takes and in-depth look at how these challenges are being addressed (or not addressed) in educational contexts and as a conceptual and educational framework by the European Union over the last two decades.
Higher Education Management and Operational Research, 2012
The Multiculturalism-interculturalism debate: an interview with Tariq Modood. In C. Pica-Smith, C. Veloria, and R. M. Contini, (Eds.) (2020). Intercultural Education: Critical Perspectives, Pedagogical Challenges and Promising Practices, New York: Nova Science Publishers.
This chapter presents an interview with seminal scholar, and sociologist, Tariq Modood. Modood de... more This chapter presents an interview with seminal scholar, and sociologist, Tariq Modood. Modood delves into an in-depth analysis of interculturalism and multiculturalism discussing the theoretical underpinnings, the real differences in the frameworks, the shortcomings of the ways in which interculturalism has framed itself as an innovative framework, and the possibilities of complementarity in the frameworks. During the interview he engages in important discussions on the concepts of recognition, diversity, social cohesion, social justice, and ends the interview with reflections on intercultural education. KEY THEMES IN THE DEBATE ABOUT MULTICULTURALISM VERSUS INTERCULTURALISM A critical analysis of the theoretical framing of Intercultural Education and its policies and practices necessarily requires an in-depth study of the political framework of both multiculturalism and interculturalism and of the debate that exists between the two positions in order to adequately contextualize the educational extension of interculturalism.
A new intercultural framework for education is being developed as a pedagogical response to incre... more A new intercultural framework for education is being developed as a pedagogical response to increasingly multi-ethnic societies in Europe. This framework has been gaining ground during the last decade within EU Institutions (Commission of the European Communities, European Commission, Council of Ministers, OECD, OSCE) and the Council of Europe Documents and replacing multiculturalism as the guiding framework. This shift has generated an ardent debate between multiculturalists and interculturalists. Indeed, there is much criticism of the interculturalist framework. This article positions itself within this current debate and offers a critical analysis of the conceptual mapping of interculturalism within which there are tensions, ambiguities, and often conflicting goals and strategies. In addition, this work highlights the problematic dynamics intrinsic in the theoretical framework of interculturalism as a political and philosophical framework as well as in its pedagogical manifestation in educational settings as intercultural education. We analyze this educational framework from a stance of sociology of education taking into account the institution of schooling as one that is contextualized in existing socio-political dynamics, narratives, and lived-realities.
ITALIAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY OF EDUCATION, 2018
Italian schools are increasingly diverse spaces in which children of
different racial and ethnic ... more Italian schools are increasingly diverse spaces in which children of
different racial and ethnic backgrounds, religious beliefs, and cultural-linguistic
practices interact daily. Thus, these spaces provide fertile ground for a continuum
of relational experiences from positive intergroup relationships and friendships
to tensions and experiences of discrimination and marginalization. Research has
demonstrated that diverse spaces can be ideal for positive intergroup contact,
intergroup dialogue and the formation of intergroup friendship, which have
been associated with prejudice reduction and a decrease in intergroup anxiety.
Employing a theoretical framework based on intergroup contact theory (Allport,
1954) and research on intergroup friendships, (Pettigrew & Tropp, 2000; 2008;
Pettigrew, Tropp, Wagner, & Christ, 2011; Lease & Blake, 2005) this article
adds to a nascent interest in sociology of education research on intergroup
relations and friendships in Italian multiethnic schools. A large sample (n=1314)
of middle school students attending multiethnic classrooms in Southern Italy
were surveyed to understand the extent of their intergroup relationships,
perspectives on intergroup relations, and intergroup cooperative as well as
discriminatory behaviors. Findings reveal that the majority of the children in
the sample report having intergroup friendships. Native Italian children report
fewer intergroup friendships while non-Italian children report higher levels of
intergroup friendships. Yet, native Italian children report getting along better
with peers while non-Italian students report getting along less well with peers.
Is Diversity Enough? Exploring Intergroup Friendships in Italian Multiethnic Schools, 2018
Abstract: Italian schools are increasingly diverse spaces in which children of di erent racial an... more Abstract: Italian schools are increasingly diverse spaces in which children of di erent racial and ethnic backgrounds, religious beliefs, and cultural-linguistic practices interact daily. us, these spaces provide fertile ground for a continuum of relational experiences from positive intergroup relationships and friendships to tensions and experiences of discrimination and marginalization. Research has demonstrated that diverse spaces can be ideal for positive intergroup contact, intergroup dialogue and the formation of intergroup friendship, which have been associated with prejudice reduction and a decrease in intergroup anxiety. Employing a theoretical framework based on intergroup contact theory (Allport, 1954) and research on intergroup friendships, (Pe igrew & Tropp, 2000; 2008; Pe igrew, Tropp, Wagner, & Christ, 2011; Lease & Blake, 2005) this article adds to a nascent interest in sociology of education research on intergroup relations and friendships in Italian multiethnic schools. A large sample (n=1314) of middle school students a ending multiethnic classrooms in Southern Italy were surveyed to understand the extent of their intergroup relationships, perspectives on intergroup relations, and intergroup cooperative as well as discriminatory behaviors. Findings reveal that the majority of the children in the sample report having intergroup friendships. Native Italian children report fewer intergroup friendships while non-Italian children report higher levels of intergroup friendships. Yet, native Italian children report getting along be er with peers while non-Italian students report getting along less well with peers.
MTISD 2008. Methods, Models and …, Jan 1, 2008
Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, Jan 1, 2010
Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, Jan 1, 2010
The aim of this study is to focus the attention on a specific dimension of scholastic experience ... more The aim of this study is to focus the attention on a specific dimension of scholastic experience of the new generation of immigrants, that is to say that of school as a place where it is possible to build cross-cultural relations, to promote cross-cultural dialogue, and images of the world concerning the creation of living together citizenship in a plural
Migranti e Territori, 2015
The consistency and the complexity of the migration fluxes towards Italy, their degree of stabili... more The consistency and the complexity of the migration fluxes towards Italy, their degree of stabilization, as well as the increase of migration families and the presence of first and second generations in the Italian scholastic system, require new educational policies and choices on behalf of the decision makers. The characteristics and the specificity of the migration fluxes and of the different persons and families that are oriented towards Italy, involve educational strategies that are able to combine needs and cultural models that are quite articulate. The United States, throughout its history, has also experienced similar societal transformations which continue to be the driving force to the creation of new policies that can respond to a new multicultural society. The paper presents a thorough analysis on the topics of the new educational needs expressed by new generations that live and make experiences in multi-ethnic social and scholastic contexts. Such a theme is framed within...
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Papers by Rina Manuela M Contini
different racial and ethnic backgrounds, religious beliefs, and cultural-linguistic
practices interact daily. Thus, these spaces provide fertile ground for a continuum
of relational experiences from positive intergroup relationships and friendships
to tensions and experiences of discrimination and marginalization. Research has
demonstrated that diverse spaces can be ideal for positive intergroup contact,
intergroup dialogue and the formation of intergroup friendship, which have
been associated with prejudice reduction and a decrease in intergroup anxiety.
Employing a theoretical framework based on intergroup contact theory (Allport,
1954) and research on intergroup friendships, (Pettigrew & Tropp, 2000; 2008;
Pettigrew, Tropp, Wagner, & Christ, 2011; Lease & Blake, 2005) this article
adds to a nascent interest in sociology of education research on intergroup
relations and friendships in Italian multiethnic schools. A large sample (n=1314)
of middle school students attending multiethnic classrooms in Southern Italy
were surveyed to understand the extent of their intergroup relationships,
perspectives on intergroup relations, and intergroup cooperative as well as
discriminatory behaviors. Findings reveal that the majority of the children in
the sample report having intergroup friendships. Native Italian children report
fewer intergroup friendships while non-Italian children report higher levels of
intergroup friendships. Yet, native Italian children report getting along better
with peers while non-Italian students report getting along less well with peers.
different racial and ethnic backgrounds, religious beliefs, and cultural-linguistic
practices interact daily. Thus, these spaces provide fertile ground for a continuum
of relational experiences from positive intergroup relationships and friendships
to tensions and experiences of discrimination and marginalization. Research has
demonstrated that diverse spaces can be ideal for positive intergroup contact,
intergroup dialogue and the formation of intergroup friendship, which have
been associated with prejudice reduction and a decrease in intergroup anxiety.
Employing a theoretical framework based on intergroup contact theory (Allport,
1954) and research on intergroup friendships, (Pettigrew & Tropp, 2000; 2008;
Pettigrew, Tropp, Wagner, & Christ, 2011; Lease & Blake, 2005) this article
adds to a nascent interest in sociology of education research on intergroup
relations and friendships in Italian multiethnic schools. A large sample (n=1314)
of middle school students attending multiethnic classrooms in Southern Italy
were surveyed to understand the extent of their intergroup relationships,
perspectives on intergroup relations, and intergroup cooperative as well as
discriminatory behaviors. Findings reveal that the majority of the children in
the sample report having intergroup friendships. Native Italian children report
fewer intergroup friendships while non-Italian children report higher levels of
intergroup friendships. Yet, native Italian children report getting along better
with peers while non-Italian students report getting along less well with peers.
Parallelamente al diffuso rigetto del multiculturalismo, in Europa si è accelerata la spinta verso l'interculturalismo, sostenuto dai documenti istituzionali come nuova forma di politica dell'integrazione, che risponde all'esigenza, divenuta prevalente, di governance democratica della diversità culturale e di promozione della coesione sociale. L'interculturalismo è presentato come àncora di salvezza nella diagnosi negativa del multiculturalismo, accusato di essere responsabile della frammentazione sociale. In tale contesto l'educazione interculturale viene individuata come la forza motrice dell'interculturalismo e della formazione di competenze interculturali.
Il volume, collocandosi nell'attuale dibattito interculturalism vs multiculturalism e andando al di là della retorica unity in diversity, offre un'analisi critica del paradigma interculturale mettendone in luce gli apporti e le problematicità a più livelli: il concetto, le declinazioni in ambito educativo, la traduzione dell'intercultura in effettive prassi educative, esaminata anche attraverso la discussione dei risultati di una ricerca empirica condotta tra insegnanti e dirigenti scolastici nelle scuole abruzzesi. Il testo fornisce un contributo all'avanzamento della concettualizzazione e dell'operativizzazione dell'intercultura in educazione e alla ricerca di nuove soluzioni per l'introduzione dell'intercultura nel mondo della scuola.
Il volume esplora gli orientamenti che si vanno delineando riguardo all’in- tegrazione, alla costruzione di legami sociali e alla formazione di identità, appartenenze e/o pluriappartenenze tra le nuove generazioni, in una so- cietà italiana sempre più multietnica e pluriculturale.
Tale tematica viene affrontata attraverso l’analisi dell’esperienza di un campione di oltre 1300 preadolescenti italiani, immigrati e figli di coppia mista frequentanti le scuole secondarie di primo grado in Abruzzo, ossia in un contesto ancora poco studiato, ma che di recente ha conosciuto un significativo incremento della presenza straniera.
L’importanza del percorso consiste nell’aver indagato l’esperienza delle nuove generazioni con riferimento al modello interculturale e alla conce- zione processuale e dinamica della cultura. Le applicazioni empiriche, che nel libro offrono molte determinazioni del concetto di intercultura, forni- scono un utile contributo alla lettura del fenomeno dell’integrazione socia- le nelle forme più recenti e rilevanti, alla luce di un ampio confronto con la letteratura più significativa e pertinente sul tema.