Research in Comparative and International Education
The ‘Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies’ (PIAAC), developed and man... more The ‘Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies’ (PIAAC), developed and managed by the OECD, is an important source of knowledge about adult skills as well as an intervention in the field of education policy. One level of the intervention is the presence of PIAAC results in public media and debate. This article presents a comparative analysis of the way major newspapers in Italy and Denmark presented and used PIAAC over the period 2013–2019. The press contributes to constructing knowledge and setting agendas for education by presenting information structured from criteria of news value and from ideological stances. The analysis, done as part of the ENLIVEN research project ( Milana et al., 2020 ), traces how PIAAC results were covered in Italian and Danish newspapers and used in the construction of themes, angles and ‘truths’ on skills and adult learning.
Adult Education in Global Times: An International Research Conference (AEGT2021), May 1, 2021
This paper presents a comparative analysis of the way the \u201c Programme for the International ... more This paper presents a comparative analysis of the way the \u201c Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies \u201d (PIAAC), developed and managed by the OECD, entered the popular press discourse in Italy and Denmark over the period 2013 - 2 019. The press contributes to knowledge production by presenting information structured from criteria of news value and from ideolog ical stances. Our analysis, done as part of the ENLIVEN research project, investigates how PIAAC results were covered in Italian and Danish newspapers and used in the construction of themes, angles, and \u201c truths \u201d on adult learning
The article deals with the relationship between research methods and strategies of governing in I... more The article deals with the relationship between research methods and strategies of governing in Italian education field. In particular, it relates to the surveys, whose interpretative and methodological machinery colludes with the neo-managerialist re-culturing of education space by embedding new public management ideas and tools within the educational texture. Thus, in order to analyse the generative effects that certain methodological choices can have on producing the field to be inquired, it focuses on the way in which defining unit of analysis, choosing techniques to collect data and aiming to such research objectives contribute to produce the "representation for the field to be governed [...] the techniques to be employed, and the ends to be achieved" (Dean 2010, p. 268) in education field. Our findings show how: the neo-managerialist 'tyranny of numbers' (Ball, 2007)-imposed both on education space, and research methods in education field can be refused, beca...
This paper analyses the complex relationship between social classes, scholastic stratification an... more This paper analyses the complex relationship between social classes, scholastic stratification and educational choices in Italy, paying due attention to the role teachers may play in enhancing working-class students’ chances to attend university. Our findings show on the one hand how the Italian educational system contributes to reproducing social inequalities, on the other hand how individuals can challenge the system, by reversing the abovementioned negative trend. In fact, working-class students are encouraged to go on to university, when they encounter teachers who inspire them through a positive relationship, good expertise and interesting lessons. In such instances, teachers can become “transformative intellectuals” who contribute to change students’ social dispositions towards education.
This chapter applies a Welfare Regimes framework to further examine the processes of domestic ada... more This chapter applies a Welfare Regimes framework to further examine the processes of domestic adaptation to the Youth Guarantee (YG) in Austria, Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, Belgium, Italy, Slovakia, Spain and the United Kingdom. It connects the evidence from Chaps. 9– 17 to selected Welfare State Regimes’ (WSRs) characteristics, covering also adult education. The results point at features in the domestic adaptation to the YG as not independent from WSRs, but also at the missed opportunity, across WSRs, of seeing this policy instrument as connected to adult education in facing the educational concerns of young adults. Yet, the chapter cautions towards welfare uniformity as it acknowledges that Welfare State theory and frameworks do not fully account for intra-country, local differences.
This article focuses on the relationship between European governance mechanisms and national poli... more This article focuses on the relationship between European governance mechanisms and national policies. Specifically, we present a study on Youth Guarantee (YG) and examine how this policy tool impacts and modifies the field of adult education and training. In doing so, the article retraces the steps that have led this European instrument to assume its current configuration, identifies the funding mechanisms set up for implementing it and analyses the form YG takes in Italy. The article closes by presenting some considerations about the way these two policy areas (work and education), situated at the crossroads between European initiatives and local translations, converge within a fragmented framework which often stem from and feed into the ‘economic reasoning’ underlying both areas.
Research in Comparative and International Education
The ‘Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies’ (PIAAC), developed and man... more The ‘Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies’ (PIAAC), developed and managed by the OECD, is an important source of knowledge about adult skills as well as an intervention in the field of education policy. One level of the intervention is the presence of PIAAC results in public media and debate. This article presents a comparative analysis of the way major newspapers in Italy and Denmark presented and used PIAAC over the period 2013–2019. The press contributes to constructing knowledge and setting agendas for education by presenting information structured from criteria of news value and from ideological stances. The analysis, done as part of the ENLIVEN research project ( Milana et al., 2020 ), traces how PIAAC results were covered in Italian and Danish newspapers and used in the construction of themes, angles and ‘truths’ on skills and adult learning.
Adult Education in Global Times: An International Research Conference (AEGT2021), May 1, 2021
This paper presents a comparative analysis of the way the \u201c Programme for the International ... more This paper presents a comparative analysis of the way the \u201c Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies \u201d (PIAAC), developed and managed by the OECD, entered the popular press discourse in Italy and Denmark over the period 2013 - 2 019. The press contributes to knowledge production by presenting information structured from criteria of news value and from ideolog ical stances. Our analysis, done as part of the ENLIVEN research project, investigates how PIAAC results were covered in Italian and Danish newspapers and used in the construction of themes, angles, and \u201c truths \u201d on adult learning
The article deals with the relationship between research methods and strategies of governing in I... more The article deals with the relationship between research methods and strategies of governing in Italian education field. In particular, it relates to the surveys, whose interpretative and methodological machinery colludes with the neo-managerialist re-culturing of education space by embedding new public management ideas and tools within the educational texture. Thus, in order to analyse the generative effects that certain methodological choices can have on producing the field to be inquired, it focuses on the way in which defining unit of analysis, choosing techniques to collect data and aiming to such research objectives contribute to produce the "representation for the field to be governed [...] the techniques to be employed, and the ends to be achieved" (Dean 2010, p. 268) in education field. Our findings show how: the neo-managerialist 'tyranny of numbers' (Ball, 2007)-imposed both on education space, and research methods in education field can be refused, beca...
This paper analyses the complex relationship between social classes, scholastic stratification an... more This paper analyses the complex relationship between social classes, scholastic stratification and educational choices in Italy, paying due attention to the role teachers may play in enhancing working-class students’ chances to attend university. Our findings show on the one hand how the Italian educational system contributes to reproducing social inequalities, on the other hand how individuals can challenge the system, by reversing the abovementioned negative trend. In fact, working-class students are encouraged to go on to university, when they encounter teachers who inspire them through a positive relationship, good expertise and interesting lessons. In such instances, teachers can become “transformative intellectuals” who contribute to change students’ social dispositions towards education.
This chapter applies a Welfare Regimes framework to further examine the processes of domestic ada... more This chapter applies a Welfare Regimes framework to further examine the processes of domestic adaptation to the Youth Guarantee (YG) in Austria, Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, Belgium, Italy, Slovakia, Spain and the United Kingdom. It connects the evidence from Chaps. 9– 17 to selected Welfare State Regimes’ (WSRs) characteristics, covering also adult education. The results point at features in the domestic adaptation to the YG as not independent from WSRs, but also at the missed opportunity, across WSRs, of seeing this policy instrument as connected to adult education in facing the educational concerns of young adults. Yet, the chapter cautions towards welfare uniformity as it acknowledges that Welfare State theory and frameworks do not fully account for intra-country, local differences.
This article focuses on the relationship between European governance mechanisms and national poli... more This article focuses on the relationship between European governance mechanisms and national policies. Specifically, we present a study on Youth Guarantee (YG) and examine how this policy tool impacts and modifies the field of adult education and training. In doing so, the article retraces the steps that have led this European instrument to assume its current configuration, identifies the funding mechanisms set up for implementing it and analyses the form YG takes in Italy. The article closes by presenting some considerations about the way these two policy areas (work and education), situated at the crossroads between European initiatives and local translations, converge within a fragmented framework which often stem from and feed into the ‘economic reasoning’ underlying both areas.
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