Dialogic approaches and school development: the World Café in research on school cultures and practices

Abstract

This article engages with the debate on inclusive school cultures, understood as dynamic constellations of practices and meanings shaping everyday life in education (Ainscow, 2020; Helsper, 2008). Within this perspective, it examines the transformative potential of participatory research methods for the development of inclusive cultures, focusing on the World Café (Brown, Isaacs, 2005). The analysis is situated within a three-year research project (2024–2026), a study on school development processes at approximately twenty schools in a region in Northern Italy [anonymized]. Adopting a mixed-methods design, the research combines questionnaires, document analysis, ethnographic observations, and focus groups with teachers and students. The World Café, conducted mid-project, provided a semi-structured dialogic space for collective reflection on themes such as heterogeneity, democratic participation, learning time, co-teaching, and individualized inclusive teaching. Findings show how this method fostered professional reflection, organizational learning, and the co-construction of situated knowledge, contributing to the cultural and structural development of inclusive schools.