3.5. Apprendimento e valutazione

Beanstalk, a Children’s Literature Charity in England, was founded in 1973. Working closely with partner schools, they recruit, train and support volunteers to provide reading support for children between ages 3 and 13
The volunteers work one-to-one with children (with each volunteer working with one to three children), coming to the school for three hours each week over the course of a school year. To help build the child’s confidence and create trust, they may read, play and talk with the children. The Beanstalk book box is an important resource with appropriate books and games
Volunteers are asked to make a commitment to work with children for a full school year. Over time, the volunteer and the child build a trusting relationship, and the volunteer is able to learn more about the challenges children experience as they are learning.
The Charity currently reaches approximately 11,000 children across England annually.

Essunga, a Swedish municipality, transformed the ranking of its schools from the bottom to the top of the national school league tables between 2007 to the top in 2010. Essunga has three elementary schools and one lower secondary school (grades 6-9). With 5,500 citizens, it is one of the smallest municipalities in the country. The increase in levels of achievement is attributed to a research-based approach of inclusive education. For years, the three elementary schools in Essunga had consistently experienced low educational levels. An increasing number of students were refugees or in “family placements”. In 2007, only 76% of students were eligible for upper secondary school and 20% of these were placed in special education classes. These results compelled political and school leaders and school staff to identify targeted measures to address these challenges. The municipality focused on interventions at school and in the local community to prevent school absence and increase attendance.

I gruppi interattivi sono tra le azioni educative di successo (Successful Educational Actions, SEA) identificate nel progetto di ricerca INCLUD-ED. Il progetto INCLUD-ED ha analizzato le strategie educative che contribuiscono al superamento delle disuguaglianze e promuovono la coesione sociale, nonché quelle che generano l’esclusione sociale, concentrandosi in particolare sui gruppi vulnerabili e marginalizzati. I gruppi interattivi sono utilizzati in diversi contesti per migliorare l’istruzione di bambini e ragazzi. In classe, gli studenti sono divisi in piccoli gruppi eterogenei facilitati da un adulto. Ciascun gruppo è composto da quattro o cinque studenti e combina in maniera eterogenea livello di competenze, genere, cultura, lingua ed etnia. L’esempio presenta una prospettiva dei gruppo interattivo e i risultati della loro messa in pratica.

In the school year 2015/16 the Schulzentrum Ybbs (a school center consisting of three vocational upper secondary schools) introduced a concept called IndY, which involves that 20% of the teaching time is intended for individualized learning. IndY aims at improving students’ expertise, motivation, self-responsibility, self-management, collaborative skills, emotional intelligence and learning methods.

Al fine di garantire il successo per tutti i bambini e prevenire l’abbandono scolastico, questo progetto realizzato nelle Fiandre (Belgio) è specificamente incentrato sull’introduzione di una cultura scolastica e su una serie di misure volte ad evitare la ripetenza.

The Joaquim Ruyra Elementary School is located in a disadvantaged suburban district of Barcelona. In the 2016-2017 school year, 92% students were immigrants representing 28 different nationalities (including Pakistan, Morocco, Georgia, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Peru, the Philippines, China, Bangladesh, Senegal, and the USA) or from minority background (Romani). The school has a 40% mobility rate.  

National and international press have referred to the school as the miracle school as it had achieved academic outcomes above the average in the Catalan standardised tests, outperforming elite schools in the Catalonia region.

All classes in the school feature group work 40% to 60% of the time. The groups mix students of different abilities, genders and nationalities.  The small groups are designed to ensure that no one is left out, and students are encouraged to participate actively.  Each group is facilitated by an adult (e.g. a classroom assistants, a parent).  Psychologists and special education teachers may also work in the classrooms, and they support volunteer parents, teachers and the students.  The extra support and student interaction are considered as essential for supporting and reinforcing children’s learning. 

Questo esempio descrive gli approcci innovativi adottati in una scuola secondaria superiore in Svezia - Beda Hallberg. La scuola offre una serie di programmi che forniscono le basi per lo sviluppo personale e la partecipazione attiva nella società. La scuola mira inoltre a fornire sostegno costante agli studenti e a ridurre il rischio di abbandono scolastico, adoperandosi per limitare i periodi di chiusura scolastica, con l'obiettivo di restare aperta durante alcune vacanze più lunghe. Inoltre è presente un gruppo di operatori sanitari, tra cui assistenti sociali e psicologi, disponibili ad assistere i giovani nelle loro necessità.
Il liceo Beda Hallberg è una scuola secondaria superiore situata a Kungsbacka, in Svezia. Si tratta di una piccola realtà che ha aperto le porte nel 2013 focalizzandosi sui singoli studenti. Per alcuni giovani di età compresa tra i 16 e 20 anni, l'ambiente fisico e sociale di molte scuole può essere difficile e rappresentare un ostacolo all'apprendimento continuo. La scuola Beda è aperta a chi è alla ricerca di una piccola scuola dove potersi sentire al sicuro e a proprio agio.

The learning hub was implemented at the TGM (an upper-level secondary technical college) as a school experiment in the school year 2016/17. It has been implemented in the school’s Information Technology (IT) Department in two of the four classes in the first year (i.e. grade 9).

In the learning hub students study self-regulated 20 hours per week. Of these 20 hours, 9 hours relate to general education subjects (German, English and Mathematics) and 11 hours involve vocational education subjects (Software Engineering, Systems Engineering, Media Technology, Network Technology). The other 6 school subjects (Geography, History and Political Education, Natural Sciences, Religion, Sports, Computer Workshop), which encompass 13 hours per week, are still taught by using traditional methods of teaching.

Manchester Communication Academy (MCA) works to improve outcomes for children, families and the community. This secondary academy opened in 2010 to serve one of the most disadvantaged inner-city neighbourhoods in England. From the outset, the academy’s sponsor, a large employer in the city, wanted the school to help to contribute to a vibrant and sustainable neighbourhood, and committed to addressing the many inter-related economic, social and physical challenges which characterise the neighbourhood. This mission has directly shaped the academy programme, which places equal importance on ‘teaching and learning’ and ‘social investment’. The school’s social investment department is a highly distinctive feature of its overall strategy for addressing the impacts of disadvantage on young people’s education and wider life chances.