Ensuring quality and equity in an Italian multicultural primary school

The present study initially intended to explore elements of effectiveness to enhance learning in a class with a high percentage of pupils with an immigrant background (6 of 18 students), implementing the emerging best practices in the field progressively. The peculiar historical circumstances in which the research was done are marked by a deep change in the political-institutional framework at both the national and the local level toward a public disinvestment in the school system, as well as a growing pressure toward increasing quality, academic performance, and competitiveness. This highlights discrepancies between the declared and the acted-out choices in school systems and the need for increasing political awareness about the role of teachers toward creating a more equitable, inclusive, and democratic school. In light of this critical perspective, we inquired as to which process can enable quality learning for all in difficult contexts, ambitiously aiming at constructing a social justice education model that addresses, in particular, the inclusion of foreign-origin students.