Schools In Milan Research Articles

Survey of Oral Hygiene Habits and Knowledge among School Children: a cross-sectional study from Italy.

This study is aimed to investigate the oral hygiene practice, knowledge and attitude of young adults, assessing their awareness about the impact of a certain "risk" behaviour on their oral and dental health. This is a cross-sectional survey study conducted on 829 students (350 males and 479 females, mean age 13-20 years) attending high school in Milan and surrounding areas. They were asked to complete anonymous questionnaire during the first semester of the 2019-2020 school year, under the supervision of a teacher and/or an assigned interviewer. The questionnaire was created by "Laboratorio Adolescenza", in collaboration with the International Alliance of Responsible Drinking (IARD) Research Institute and the University of Milan. All of the data was compiled into table or graph form and analysed. There is a general awareness among Italian school children about the risks of bad oral habits, however, there is a need to improve the oral health knowledge, attitude and practices in the target population with emphasis on improvement of oral hygiene practices.

The dramatization of practice in design education: (Un)learning by doing through participant observation

Although ‘learning by doing’ is nowadays a standard practice in design education, there is not much reflexivity about what designers actually do with a ‘learning by doing’ approach. Based on my ethnographic research in a design school in Milan, I examine designers’ performance of practical learning by looking at their use of participant observation, a method borrowed from social sciences and applied to an early stage of the students’ design research projects. I detail how, in the exercises with participant observation, ‘practice’ emerges as an aesthetic effect that is performed to simulate the openness of the research, a process I refer to as a ‘dramatization of practice’.

Schools and New Learning Spaces in Milan. An Educational Experience

The article reflects on recent models for pedagogy and their impact on educational space, from an architectural design point of view. It starts by framing the present-day situation of the existing schools in Milan, built under legal requirements from the 1970s, resulting today in a great number of obsolete educational facilities.Recent programs and educational policies, both at national and local levels, are presented to frame the new programme “Inventing Schools,” a collaborative partnership between the Municipality and the Politecnico di Milano. The goal is to explore and apply these pedagogical models to the design of new educational facilities in Milan, thereby intended to replace or refurbish the (now) problematic old schools.Dealing with second year students of the Bachelor Programme in Architecture, the primary school at Via Massaua was selected for their project. The student design proposals are approached by exploring the link between the school and the public space, the school and the neighbourhood, and the school and the street. The students considered different pedagogical models translated into spaces, confronting them with theoretical models and reference case studies, ultimately contributing to the discussion surrounding the school of the future.The project experiences explore the possible forms and organisation of spaces, so that the school becomes a centre open to the inhabitants of the district, and a space for learning about society and the city. This requires a clear articulation between safety solutions designed to protect the very young pupils, while providing coherent and autonomous access to adults and other users from the community, so as to share the cultural and sporting facilities of the school. This avoids double investments from the municipality and, of paramount importance, strengthens the sense of sharing and belonging to a social community.

Let’s do the Math… About Creativity and Mathematical Reasoning: A Correlational Study in Primary School Children

Mathematics, being a very ancient discipline, is usually seen as a formal subject that must be learned for school purposes, which is very far from creativity and fun. Also, mathematical skills are often considered a talent, so students are easily divided into gifted and not gifted, with a focus on speed and accuracy rather than encouraging the process of juggling between divergent and convergent thinking. In the present paper, we aimed at investigating the relationship between mathematical reasoning and different aspects of creative thinking, such as divergent and convergent creativity, aesthetic appreciation, and humor. To do so, 146 second and third graders in a primary school in Milan have been recruited and tested with mathematical and creative tasks. Correlational analyses showed significant positive relations between flexibility and originality dimensions of creativity and mathematical performance. Results are discussed by providing a theoretical framework about the relation between mathematics and creative skills.

A School Community between War and Imperial Illusions the World Seen from the Archive of a High School in Milan (1935-45)

This essay aims to investigate the connection between a local archive and global history, with a glocal perspective in a school environment. The work will deal with the archive of a high school in Milan, Italy, and examine how this community, with its principal, teachers and students, looked at (and was involved with) international events between 1935 and 1945. This was the period when fascist Italy declared war on Ethiopia and took part in the Second World War in its quest for an Empire and, later, for a new role in a Nazi-ruled Europe. Fascist foreign policy, which meant “war policy” in that period, and the way the Italian schools dealt with it became part of the totalitarian design of the regime. Changes in the local perspective regarding international events reflect changes in the regime’s political agenda.

Saliva Molecular Testing for SARS-CoV-2 Surveillance in Two Italian Primary Schools.

Background: No evidence has so far proven a significant role of schools in SARS-CoV-2 transmission, while the negative effects of their closure on children and adolescents are well documented. Surveillance, by means of frequent students and staff testing, has been advocated in order to implement school safety. Our aim was to report the results of a school surveillance program for the early detection of SARS-CoV-2 infection in pre- and asymptomatic subjects, by means of molecular salivary testing (MST). Methods: School surveillance in two schools in Milan, Italy, was carried out for six weeks. Each participant received a saliva collection kit, to be self-performed. Results: 401 students and 12 teachers were enrolled, and 5 positive children in 5 different classes were observed. All the cases were asymptomatic. Their nasopharyngeal swab was positive on the same day in four cases, while in one case it resulted negative on the same day and positive 3 days later. In one positive case, the whole family was set under surveillance. The positive child did not develop symptoms and no family member was infected. Conclusions: MST might represent an efficient way to actively survey communities in order to detect asymptomatic cases, thus limiting SARS-CoV-2 transmission.

Frequency of asymptomatic carriers of SARS-CoV-2 among children and adults after school reopening

BackgroundChildren often develop an asymptomatic form of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), but it is debated if children are at higher risk than adults to be asymptomatic carriers of SARS-CoV-2, especially during the school reopening. The main aim of this study was to investigate the frequency of SARS-CoV-2 asymptomatic carriers in children and adults during the reopening of the schools in Milan, Italy.MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional study at the pediatric and adult Emergency Department (ED) of the Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico (Milan) between October 1 and 31, 2020, i.e. 3 weeks after the reopening of schools. Patients admitted to the ED short stay observation and without any sign or symptom consistent with a SARS-CoV-2 were eligible. These patients underwent a nasopharyngeal swab specimen for the detection of SARS-CoV-2. The odds ratio and its 95% confidence interval (CI) was calculated to assess the risk of asymptomatically carrying the SARS-CoV-2 infection in children and adults.ResultsA total of 69 (27 females, median age 8.7 years) children and 251 (107 females, median age 71 years) adults were enrolled. Pediatric and adult subjects tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 with a similar frequency (1/69 [1.4%] vs 4/251 [1.6%]). Children had an odds ratio to be a carrier of 0.91 (CI 0.02– 9.38) compared to adults.ConclusionsThe frequency of asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 carriers was similar among children and adults. Considering the emerging diffusion of new SARS-CoV-2 variants, the asymptomatic spread of SARS-CoV-2 infection among children and adults should be monitored.

Stigma on Mental Health among High School Students: Validation of the Italian Version of the Attribution Questionnaire-27 (AQ-27-I) in a High School Student Population.

The purpose of this study was to describe the psychometric characteristics of the AQ-27-I in a high school student population. Students aged between 17 and 20 years and attending the fourth and fifth year of a scientific high school in Milan were approached at the school and were asked to fill in an anonymous socio-demographic form and the AQ-27-I. Cronbach’s alpha was used to estimate the instrument reliability and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted and compared to the original English version factor structure. The AQ-27-I demonstrated acceptable internal consistency, with a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.87 and only one subscale (Personal responsibility) with an alpha lower than 0.60. Fit indices were very positive for the Dangerousness Model supporting the factor structure and paths of the original version. The Personal Responsibility Model, on the other hand, showed some weakness, concerning the process dynamics of the model. The results obtained are similar with those from other studies carried out in Italy and other countries. The questionnaire can be used for the quantitative description of stereotypes, emotions and behaviors associated with stigma in mental health in high school student populations.

The indifference of distinction. Art schools and the noblesse oblige of privileged students

ABSTRACTA consolidated sociological line of the research allows us to understand the educational advantages of middle-class pupils in terms of the dynamics of reproduction [Bourdieu, P., and J. C. Passeron. 1970. The Inheritors: French Students and Their Relations to Culture, translated and edited by Richard Nice. Chicago: University of Chicago Press; Power, S., T. Edwards, G. Whitty, and V. Wigfall. 2003. Education and the Middle Class. Buckingham: Open University Press]. However, some scholars have pointed out how this process cannot be taken for granted, highlighting the difficulties experienced by youths in reaching academic success [Reay, D., and H. Lucey. 2002. “Carrying the Beacon of Excellence: Social Class Differentiation and Anxiety at a Time of Transition.” Journal of Education Policy 17 (3): 321–336. Doi:10.1080/02680930210127586]. Based on Bourdieu’s perspective, this article will explore the links between low educational attainment, artistic passion, and high aspirations in privileged students. The research is based on in-depth interviews and focus groups with middle-class pupils in two secondary art schools in Milan. It is argued the artistic disposition acts within dynamics of negotiation among different and contrasting expectations. Creativity emerges as a source to perform gendered privileged learner identities. This study on artistic educational pathways can contribute to understanding the process-making of inequalities in creative fields.

Music Education at School: Too Little and Too Late? Evidence From a Longitudinal Study on Music Training in Preadolescents.

It is widely believed that intensive music training can boost cognitive and visuo-motor skills. However, this evidence is primarily based on retrospective studies; this makes it difficult to determine whether a cognitive advantage is caused by the intensive music training, or it is instead a factor influencing the choice of starting a music curriculum. To address these issues in a highly ecological setting, we tested longitudinally 128 students of a Middle School in Milan, at the beginning of the first class and, 1 year later, at the beginning of the second class. 72 students belonged to a Music curriculum (30 with previous music experience and 42 without) and 56 belonged to a Standard curriculum (44 with prior music experience and 12 without). Using a Principal Component Analysis, all the cognitive measures were grouped in four high-order factors, reflecting (a) General Cognitive Abilities, (b) Speed of Linguistic Elaboration, (c) Accuracy in Reading and Memory tests, and (d) Visuospatial and numerical skills. The longitudinal comparison of the four groups of students revealed that students from the Music curriculum had better performance in tests tackling General Cognitive Abilities, Visuospatial skills, and Accuracy in Reading and Memory tests. However, there were no significant curriculum-by-time interactions. Finally, the decision to have a musical experience before entering middle school was more likely to occur when the cultural background of the families was a high one. We conclude that a combination of family-related variables, early music experience, and pre-existent cognitive make-up is a likely explanation for the decision to enter a music curriculum at middle school.

Impact of training conferences on high-school students' knowledge of sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

SummaryThis study, part of the health promotion program of a high school in Milan (Italy), was aimed at evaluating the impact of training conferences on the awareness of STIs among adolescents aged 16-17.Students attending the 3rd class of a Scientific and Linguistic High School in Milan (Italy) participated in this study in November 2017.All students gave their anonymous answers on a voluntary basis in a pre-test survey, designed by psychologists and infectious diseases specialists, to test their basic knowledge, accuracy, and awareness of STIs. After a two-hour interactive conference, the students were asked to answer the post-test survey. A higher awareness of the spread and the mode of transmission of STIs, of high risk sexual and behavioural practices and prevention methods was observed in the post-test compared to the pre-test.These findings outline both the need for sexual-health communication campaigns targeted at adolescents, who are at great risk of exposure and mostly unaware of STIs other than HIV/AIDS, and the short-term efficacy of a direct approach to the problem, guided by experts in infectious diseases and psychology. A long-term assessment of the effects of training conferences needs to be evaluated.

Teaching anatomy in a modern medical course: an integrated approach at Vialba Medical School in Milan

This article was migrated. The article was not marked as recommended. IntroductionThe course of Anatomy in Vialba Medical School - University of Milan, integrates systemic, topographic and development anatomy, dissection laboratory, peer-teaching, flipped classroom, clinical correlation to radiology and surgery.MethodsAn anonymous questionnaire based on a five-point Likert scale was submitted to 162 students who had passed the exam of Anatomy. Students evaluated the importance given during study to morphology, relations and variations of organs, the usefulness of different tools in preparing the exam of anatomy. Finally, the impact of the new design course of Anatomy on students' progress was assessed.ResultsThe results showed that most of the students found very useful dissections, multimedia sources and 3D virtual models. 3D virtual models, dissections and physical models were indicated as the most important tools that should be available for learning Anatomy; instead, medical imaging received a low score. Students focused the study on morphology and relations between organs much more than anatomical variations. Lastly, students who followed the new design course of anatomy showed a significant better performance when compared to students of the previous academic years, in particular on the anatomy of neck, thoracic and abdominopelvic cavity, and neuroanatomy.ConclusionsOur study underlines the positive impact of the integration of traditional methods and innovative solutions in learning anatomy, but also the critical approach to radiologic imaging and anatomical variability.

Students' acceptance of tablet PCs in Italian high schools: Profiles and differences

AbstractThe tablet PC represents a very popular mobile computing device, and together with other technologies it is changing the world of education. This study aimed to explore the acceptance of tablet PC of Italian high school students in order to outline the typical students' profiles and to compare the acceptance conveyed in two types of use (learning and communicative activities at school). Data were collected using an online survey that was filled out by students at home. Two hundred and ninety‐six students from six public high schools in Milan and surrounding suburbs voluntarily accepted to participate in the study. The results show a varied situation in the Italian schools despite the availability of and funding for the technology. Three clusters were identified with high, moderate and low acceptance of tablet PC and a comparison between such clusters revealed significant differences in gender, grade level and usage frequency. The groups showed also significant differences in relation to the uses of tablet PC at school that appeared coherent with their level of acceptance: students who have higher level of acceptance are those who use the tool more both for learning and communicative purposes. To conclude, students with lower acceptance probably need to better understand the opportunities offered by this technology and how to use it. Based on examining the data from the survey, preliminary recommendations are made.

Disadvantaged students and art school: the outcasts on the inside between acquiescence and contestation

ABSTRACTThis research explores the educational experiences from a qualitative perspective with in-depth interviews and focus groups with disadvantaged young pupils. The research takes place in two secondary art schools in Milan. I define art in the space of educational choices, in a Bourdieusian perspective. This type of school is an ambivalent practical lyceum. I study the meanings of this choice, the educational representations and attitudes of the students as well as the ambitions for the future. I investigate the school choice, the learner identity and the creative aspiration as classed concepts by means of cultural capital and habitus tools. The social class determines the way in which students orient themselves towards creative educational routes and professional future careers. A research of mediocrity and modesty characterises their dispositions towards school and art. The educational artistic experience is considered as a merely autotelic practice without value and relevance to their life. The disadvantaged young students are incomplete neo-liberal subjectivities and their life projects are undefined in terms of tools, aims and trajectories. In sum, I examine the role of secondary art school to reproduce the social disadvantages in terms of educational and professional aspirations.

The national project for Roma, Sinti and Caminanti children inclusion: A Socio-Anthropological overview

The article develops a critical, applied and interdisciplinary perspective, to contrast anti-Gypsyism. The research has been carried out within the “National Project for Inclusion and Integration of Roma children, Sinti and Caminanti”, realized during 2013/14 in the city of Milan. The theoretical frame refers to different dimensions, respectively represented by the paradigm of contrast of anti-Gypsyism, the researches focused on educational policies towards Roma children and the inclusive education theory. Within this framework, the article analyses the assumptions on which the whole intervention was based and will provide an ethnographic account of the training activities carried out with the contribution of the authors in two schools in Milan. Based on these data, the article highlights the elements of continuity and discontinuity in educational policy toward Roma children and their families implemented in the city in the last years. The article analyses eventually the results of the training that was carried out, highlighting the effects produced by the interaction between research and reality. The analysis aims at revealing that anti-Gypsysm is, paradoxically, necessary for the emergence of the opposite paradigm (“contrasting anti-Gypsyism”), within which discourses are produced, funds are allocated, and the projects and careers of “opponents to anti-Gypsyism” are advanced.

Teaching and learning cinema and visual languages through economics-business studies and law in high school: An experimental interdisciplinary approach

In Italy, little is being done to promote cinema studies and the ability to analyse films and/or multimedia works among high school students. Although Italian legislation provides guidelines on specific learning objectives, activities and content to be included in high school courses, film and media language is still not encouraged in schools. The pilot introduction of cinema at the C. Tenca High School in Milan had the aim of demonstrating the value of film as an educational and epistemological resource and fostering the development of innovative interdisciplinary teaching strategies. Themes related to cinematographic language, Economics-Business Studies and law were introduced and analysed via the exploration of early films (late 1800s and early 1900s). The students investigated the topics of advertising, building a brand name, online marketing and the role of the media in shaping public opinion. In order to enhance students’ skills in analysing interactive communications, we introduced the themes of data journalism and fact-checking. The results are discussed in terms of a possible role for Cinema in the study of Economics-Business Studies and Law and of how cinema might become an interdisciplinary resource for other school subjects.
 
 Keywords: Secondary School Social Science Curriculum, Interdisciplinary Approach, Cinema, Economics-Business Studies and Law, New Media, Promoting Active Learning.

The ‘everyday’ of banal nationalism – Ordinary people’s views on Italy and Italian

In 1995, Banal Nationalism set a new way to study nationhood. Away from the traditional concern with its historical origins (‘when’) and its substantialist features (‘what’), Banal Nationalism offered a systematic analysis of its reproduction (‘how’). Informed by social and discursive psychology, Billig pointed to the role played by familiar, unremarkable ‘little words’ (deixis) to explain the persistence and pervasiveness of the idea of a world divided into nations. The present article aims to expand Billig’s seminal study on the reproduction of nationalism, by incorporating an ‘everyday nationhood’ perspective, which attends more closely to human agency and contextual interaction. To give empirical substance to this move, the article relies on photo-elicitation group discussions and written essays collected in a vocational school in Milan, Italy, among an ethno-culturally diverse sample. By bringing the voices of people in as active producers of national meanings, the article offers a more complex picture of a world banally divided into nations. Both a national ‘we’ and a national ‘here’ emerge in fact as socio-spatially differentiated, fragmented and articulated at a plurality of scales, thus defying the logical linearity of banal nationalism, which unwittingly reproduces nations as singular, internally homogenous discursive entities. The article concludes by arguing for the need to complement the banal with the everyday in order to more fully capture processes of national reproduction in contexts of increasing ethno-cultural diversity.

Validation of the Italian Version of the Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire for Adolescents by A. Lancry and Th. Arbault.

BackgroundThis study aimed to validate the Italian version of the Morningness-Eveningness questionnaire for adolescents by Lancry and Arbault.Material/MethodsThe Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire by Lancry and Arbault was translated from French into Italian by using forward-backward translation. Students aged 11–15 years old were enrolled from two schools in Milan (Italia). Validation of the questionnaire was performed in subsequent phases. A pre-test was given to 66 students aged 11–15 years (males 57.4%, females 42.6%) from a convenience sample. Syntactic aspects of the pre-test were improved, and the questionnaire in a revised version was re-administered to 292 students of same age (males 43.8%, females 54.1%) from a convenience sample.ResultsFactor analysis was performed on pre-test data, using the principal component method accounting for Morningness-Eveningness. Problematic items possibly uncorrelated with the extracted factor were identified, and reliability produced a Cronbach’s Alpha close to 0.7. In the test phase factor analysis was performed using the principal component method. Based on reliability analyses, we excluded a number of items because of their low performance, giving rise to a Cronbach’s Alpha of 0.819. Pearson product-moment external correlations between Morningness-Eveningness disposition and temperament, behavioral, and cognitive aspects were evaluated.ConclusionsA factor analysis, Cronbach’s alpha and concurrent validity coefficients with disposition, behavior, and cognition, were performed, suggesting potential reliability and validity. The questionnaire is a useful and relevant tool for measuring Morningness-Eveningness disposition in adolescents, which has seldom been investigated with adequate psychometric instruments.

The EuroLifeNet Study: How Different Microenvironments Influence Personal Exposure to PM<sub>2.5</sub> among High-School Students in Milan

Epidemiological studies show that long-term exposure to PM is associated with an increased risk of cancer. The EuroLifeNet study measured the personal exposure to PM2.5 in 90 pupils attending three schools in Milan, using a portable nephelometer, over a three-week period spanning November and December 2006. Background levels explained 40% of the variability of the exposure. Methods: As a second part of that study we analyzed the role of different microenvironments as determinants of personal exposure to PM2.5. Results: Exposure was influenced by the time of day, zone of the city and different microenvironments. Exposure was higher indoors than out, and indoors it was higher in the kitchen, particularly during cooking. In outdoor environments exposure was higher at bus stops where road traffic was heavy. Conclusions: Even though background concentration can be a good predictor of personal exposure to PM, students’ personal exposure is strongly influenced by different microenvironments and should be considered in population studies. The EuroLifeNet experience gives a contribution to personal exposure measure methodology.

Oropharyngeal and nasal Staphylococcus aureus carriage by healthy children.

BackgroundAs healthy children are the main reservoir of respiratory pathogens and the main cause of bacterial diffusion in the community, it could be interesting to investigate the type of screening that should be used during the early years of life in order to obtain a more precise estimate of Staphylococcus aureus circulation. The aim of this study was to evaluate oropharyngeal and nasal S. aureus carriage in otherwise healthy children and adolescents aged 6–17 years.MethodsThe oropharyngeal and nasal samples were collected in December 2013 from 497 healthy students attending five randomly selected schools in Milan, Italy, using an ESwab kit, and S. aureus was identified using the RIDA®GENE methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) system.ResultsTwo hundred and sixty-four subjects (53.1%) were identified as S. aureus carriers: 129 (25.9%) oropharyngeal carriers and 195 (39.2%) nasal carriers, of whom 60 (12.1%) were both oropharyngeal and nasal carriers. Oropharyngeal carriage increased with age (p < 0.001), whereas nasal carriage decreased. There was little or no agreement between oropharyngeal and nasal carriage in any of the age groups. MRSA was identified in only three cases (0.6%), always in nasal samples. There were no differences between the carriers and non-carriers in terms of the distribution of age, gender, ethnicity, the number of siblings in the household, exposure to passive smoking, previous clinical history, allergic sensitisation, or previous influenza, pneumococcal and meningococcal vaccinations. The frequency of male children was higher among the subjects with positive nasal and oropharyngeal swabs (66.7%) than among those with positive oropharyngeal swabs alone (46.4%; p = 0.02).ConclusionsThe oropharyngeal carriage of mainly methicillin-sensitive S. aureus is frequent in otherwise healthy children, including a relatively high proportion of those without nasal colonisation. These findings highlight the importance of adding throat to nasal screening when monitoring the circulation of S. aureus in the community.