CALL FOR PAPER 2/2025

2025-07-15

In the last few days, the long-awaited opinion (not yet officially published at the time of writing) of the Consiglio Superiore della Pubblica Istruzione (CSPI) has been issued on the second draft of the National Curriculum Guidelines – Preschool and First Cycle of Education. Meanwhile, the debate on the guidelines for the second cycle is expected to begin shortly. The draft submitted to the CSPI stems from the work of the technical committee appointed to define the guiding principles for the new curricula across both cycles of education, with the aim of promoting public discussion on the main innovations and offering a conceptual basis for the second round of hearings with social stakeholders.

In fact, the timing and procedures for the consultation process – initiated after the publication of the materials for public debate and the first draft of the Guidelines – have significantly limited opportunities for cultural and pedagogical discussion. This marks a clear discontinuity with respect to historical Italian experiences since the 1985 programmes. Perhaps for this reason, the second draft appears more streamlined and reorganised compared to the first, while remaining substantially unchanged in its theoretical and teleological framework – leading some to speak of a moderate “lifting”.

In addition to concerns about the methodology used, many have pointed to a radical cultural and pedagogical break between the new guidelines and the previous ones, as well as an apparent departure from the idea of the school as a cultural and educational institution. While the framework of the 2012 National Guidelines – revised in 2018 by the document National Guidelines and New Scenarios – was based on the principles of encounter, interaction and dialogue, emphasising their interdependence and complexity, the new guidelines instead seem to favour cultural polarisation and binary logics. These tendencies may be reflected in transmissive and prescriptive approaches and a decoupling between school and family.

All these elements seem to converge in outlining a cultural orientation that not only shapes the education of new generations but also defines a model of schooling seemingly inspired by a Western-centred, anti-egalitarian, and deterministic pedagogical vision (Baldacci). In this context, it is worth noting the role attributed to the school as a place capable of “creating educational cultures” – a strategic function clearly affirmed in the new Guidelines. Schools are thus expected not only to activate inclusive processes – primarily focused on models of personalisation rather than individualisation – but also to take near-exclusive responsibility for the educational process of pupils, given that the educational dimension appears entirely delegated to families. In this dichotomy of “educating” and “instructing”, school and family are depicted as the two pillars of children’s and adolescents’ learning and development, leaving little space for synergy or shared responsibility within an interconnected educational path. Likewise, the teacher’s role seems to be framed within a semantic field in which the magister is “the one who knows more”, shaping the asymmetry of the educational relationship according to parameters that risk turning into authoritarian practices.

Based on these premises, this Call for Papers aims to open an urgently needed space for critical reflection – also from a historical and evolutionary perspective – on the new guidelines. This is not only about the pedagogical orientation on which they are based, but also about the desirability and feasibility of consultation processes and the democratic feasibility of educational institutions.

Specifically, we are asking for proposals that address the following topics:

  • The concept of interculturality and inclusion: emerging scenarios

  • The concept of education and schooling: emerging scenarios

  • The concept of the teacher and the learner: emerging scenarios

  • The concept of curriculum and innovation: emerging scenarios

  • The concept of participation and shared responsibility: emerging scenarios

  • The concept of family and community: emerging scenarios

  • The concept of knowledge in the age of Artificial Intelligence: emerging scenarios

  • Proposals and reflections for the National Guidelines for Upper Secondary Education

Each abstract (in both Italian and English) must be accompanied by up to 5 keywords (in both Italian and English). The length of each version of the abstract must range between 400 and 900 characters including spaces. The abstract must clearly present the overall focus of the contribution: theoretical framework, methodology, findings, and perspectives.

 

Deadlines

Abstract submission (by email only to: rivista@sipeges.it): 10 August
Full paper submission (via the journal's OJS platform only): 12 October
Publication: December 2025

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