What Intercultural Competencies do Italian Primary Teachers Need?

Abstract

193 different nationalities are represented among the pupils in Italy's state schools. 9% of school pupils in Italy (802,844) come from a migrant background. The data reveal a deep-rooted disparity in these pupils’ academic trajectory compared to that of indigenous students. With a view to gathering data that might assist in understanding which factors contribute to the disadvantages faced by students of n.I.n., this research has sought to reveal the terms in which teachers who have taught in multicultural, primary-level classes for at least five years, most commonly represent diversity, albeit, in terms of the number of participants (thirty), the sample used is non-representative. The investigation was also designed to generate information regarding the behaviours, expertise and operational skills that the same group of teachers employs in teaching multicultural classes, and to determine whether the practices they describe indicate the possession of intercultural competencies.What representations of diversity are most familiar to teachers? Do teachers possess intercultural competencies that enable them to assist integration and learning in students from migrant backgrounds? The data analysis methodology was based on grounded theory. “Diversity”, the analysis revealed, is understood in various ways: the expression of each person's uniqueness; cultural difference; the prevalence of problems (special needs, learning difficulties, hyperactivity). The stories told revealed various competencies, which were grouped into two types: first-level intercultural competencies (already inherent to good teaching practice), and second-level intercultural competence required/acquired in multicultural classes.Based on these data, the study paints a varied portrait of Italian primary teachers’ professional competence. This admittedly limited set of interviews suggests a heterogeneous reality, with some teachers having responded to a changing school population by acquiring new intercultural competences, and others seemingly stuck with an outdated outlook.