Transforming educational contexts in a communitybased way: experiences and perspectives of teachers recognized by the Atlante Italian Teacher Award

Abstract

What do teachers recognized at the national level through an award have in common? What drives them to undertake innovative actions with and for their students, going beyond narratives that consider young people fragile and inept, incapable of positive and proactive selfdetermination? These are distorting and misleading rhetoric, fueled by feelings of fear and disillusionment with the future (Bruni, 2019), often expressed by adults who, first and foremost, should inspire hope for the future in younger generations by promoting initiatives inspired by responsibility and ethics (Lévinas, 1980). Based on these premises, this study investigates the perspectives of teachers who have won the Atlante Italian Teacher Award over the last three years, urging them to reflect on their educational vision, the professional difficulties they have encountered, as well as the personal and relational resources used in leading innovative, virtuous learning projects aimed at building equitable educational environments. The results highlight, beyond individual experiences, that students, when appropriately engaged, can contribute with creativity and determination to improving their lives, building meaningful prosocial relationships. To this end, it is necessary to promote systemic educational models that integrate relational, methodological, and valuebased dimensions, inspired by cooperation and shared goals. In this way, it is possible to dismantle two types of rhetoric: that students are, by nature, disinterested in educational processes and, jointly, that the awarded teachers have achieved significant results solely by virtue of merit considered from an individualistic perspective.