BOOKS BY CATIA GIACONI

Following the 2030 Agenda (UN, 2015), the growth of an inclusive culture in higher education contexts contemplates the strategic value of promoting the university community well-being, starting from each person’s contribution (Priestley et al., 2022). According to Article 30 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006), providing opportunities to support study and university life means moving from a logic of needs to a logic of rights. In that sense, the University of Macerata promotes the psycho-physical and social well-being of its students, developing empowerment processes (Barbuto, 2018; Taddei, 2020) that guarantee a more equal participation in university life. In this paper, we will present the format Inclusion 3.0 which, starting from the “Voice” (Grion, 2017; D’Angelo et al., 2020) of university students with disabilities and SLDs (Giaconi, Del Bianco, 2018; Giaconi et al., 2018), embodies an innovative perspective for University as a place of well-being.

Culture e pratiche inclusive che emergono dalla cooperazione tra territori comunità e istituti accademici, rappresentano un elemento cruciale sia dal punto di vista concettuale che progettuale per stimolare la nascita di comunità orientate alla promozione dell’educazione. In ragione di ciò, negli ultimi anni, le università italiane hanno assunto questo orizzonte di senso e di intervento nell’ambito delle iniziative ascrivibili alla Terza Missione e all’Impatto Sociale al fine di promuove il valore sociale delle iniziative e, allo stesso tempo, di rendere valutabile l’impatto prodotto da queste ultime in termini di efficacia e di successo per tutti gli attori coinvolti. Da questo punto di vista, l’articolo presenta uno studio di caso di un progetto multi-regione finanziato dal bando “Un passo avanti” promosso dall’Impresa Sociale Con i Bambini avente come obiettivo il sostegno di interventi capaci di innescare processi innovativi, generare nuove relazioni e fornire progetti di impatto sociale per il contrasto alla povertà educativa minorile. I risultati presentati permettono di tracciare alcune utili piste di riflessione e alcuni criteri di intervento per le Università allo scopo di migliorare i processi orientati a promuovere culture e pratiche inclusive in raccordo con le Università, i territori e gli stakeholders locali nella prospettiva di promuovere comunità educanti.

The development of inclusive cultures and practices in academia can be substantiated not only in references to the two traditional missions of universities, namely Teaching and Research but can find a generative way through a third mission, namely that of “Third Mission and Social Impact”. Italian universities assume this programmatic horizon to make available and accessible the social value of scientific research that is also carried out in synergy with territories, institutions, and communities. This paper intends to conduct an action of conceptualization and legitimization of the “Third Mission” in universities and, at the same time, to highlight the transformative practices and emancipatory processes underlying the strategic actions of the universities. In particular, starting from the analysis of the Strategic Plans of 88 Italian universities, this contribution delves into the pedagogical dimensions that characterize the “Third Mission” and, therefore, seeks to highlight the role of Special Pedagogy for the enhancement of knowledge and the creation of new connections of social impact.

Questo libro è dedicato ai bisogni educativi e formativi dei bambini e ragazzi di oggi. Il testo presenta indicazioni didattiche per orientare educatori e docenti in formazione su come concretamente sia possibile promuovere l’alfabetizzazione emotiva a scuola, creando un ambiente di apprendimento inclusivo e ricco di relazioni positive. Gli argomenti sono presentati con storie di vita, non vere ma verosimili, e corredati da suggerimenti concreti per la gestione delle relazioni, dei comportamenti problematici e degli interventi possibili in ambito educativo.

Al fine di indagare criticità e potenzialità del Digital Learning nei percorsi di formazione per docenti specializzati sulle attività di sostegno, il presente contributo focalizza l’attenzione sulla qualità e sull’efficacia delle metodologie di insegnamento-apprendimento veicolate proprio tramite l’utilizzo delle Tecnologie dell’Informazione e della Comunicazione (TIC). In particolar modo, oggetto della presente indagine sono le percezioni di un campione di 237 futuri docenti di sostegno circa l’uso di un repository online di video tutorial, di cui hanno beneficiato durante il loro percorso formativo, in qualità di mediatore e dispositivo didattico. Tramite la valutazione dei risultati di apprendimento e dei feedback formativi, la riflessione si direziona, in conclusione, sulle modalità di implementazione dei percorsi di formazione volti alla costruzione di profili professionali in grado di utilizzare le tecnologie a supporto del Digital Inclusion nei contesti formativi.

In the present paper, after a description of the theoretical framework used to define self-determination, we will describe the importance of structuring a research context that fosters the self-advocacy of people with disabilities. In this direction, a protocol of participatory research with people with intellectual disabilities will be presented in the third paragraph. Specifically, we will expand the procedure to support the creation of accessible museum captions, thanks to the application of Easy-to-Read guidelines.

Writing is extremely important for our academic and professional life and can affect our performance in productive educational activities, favouring us or not. Schoolchildren with dyslexia bring difficulties and reduced school performance due to their condition of deprivation in written production. This is because schoolchildren with dyslexia have difficulty acquiring spelling knowledge and show poor phonological skills. This study aimed to characterize the performance of schoolchildren with dyslexia in “gaze” for the handwriting of High and Low-frequency words. A total of 24 schoolchildren participated in the study. They were between 8 to 11 years and 11 months of age, of both sexes, and they were attending the 3rd to the 5th year of Elementary School in the city of Marília-SP. The schoolchildren were divided into groups: GI, composed of 12 schoolchildren with an interdisciplinary diagnosis of developmental dyslexia, and GII, composed of 12 schoolchildren with good academic performance, paired with GI according to the school grade level. These schoolchildren were submitted to computerized handwriting evaluation using a Brazilian adaptation of the Software Ductus. All schoolchildren were submitted to a copy of words already selected according to Brazilian Portuguese criteria of frequency and codification rule. A measure of “gaze” was used, that is, when the schoolchildren stopped their handwriting to search/look up at the screen to confirm the information about the words. The results indicated a significant difference between GI and GII, with GI schoolchildren performing more gaze when compared with GII, i.e., taking longer motor breaks to perform the gaze. Therefore, there was a rupture in the central processing with the peripheral when the child performed the gauze more times since he had to confirm the characteristics of this word during the writing process (difficulty in accessing the orthographic lexicon) and with that, there was a break in the movement of handwriting (since there was not enough information in the central plane to complete that motor memory and finish the word). It was concluded that there were gaps between the central (orthographic) and peripheral (motor pauses) processes, suggesting deficits in the formation of motor programs for GI and the lack of automation of motor processes.

The concept of quality of life (QOL) has become a measurable construct of great value to all people, including people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). In particular, the field of IDD is currently experiencing a paradigm shift related to beliefs, assumptions, policies, and practices concerning people with disabilities and their families and the place and role they play in society. This article starts by reconstructing the state of the art of the application of QOL in Social Services, reconstructing its research developments, operational declinations and influences in social policies in Spain and Italy.