Integration of Children Living Outside Their Birth Families: Addressing Stereotypes and Prejudices
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7346/sird-022025-p193Keywords:
inclusion, Out-of-Home Care, Teacher trainingAbstract
Recent studies have highlighted that stereotypes and teachers’ lack of knowledge about children living outside their family of origin negatively affect these students’ wellbeing in the classroom (Mortari & Sità, 2021; Dansey et al., 2019), hindering an integration process already made complex by other factors (Sinclair et al., 2020; Coggi & Ricchiardi, 2014). Teachers’ acquisition of accurate knowledge about the phenomenon is therefore essential to ensure adequate inclusion. The present study aims to assess the extent to which prospective early childhood and primary school teachers are informed about child protection issues, and how capable they are of identifying misconceptions, or cultural differences, which reflect diverse child protection systems, in TV series and films. According to some research, such media representations
play a significant role in conveying misconceptions on this topic (Ponciano et al., 2020). Student teachers’
knowledge and attitudes were investigated through a questionnaire administered to fourthyear students of the Primary
Education program at the University of Turin over two consecutive academic years. A subgroup (n = 27) subsequently
participated in a onemonth
researchtraining
program, followed by a threemonth
followup.
The results show that
trained students acquired a solid level of knowledge and awareness, supported by both qualitative and quantitative
data. The findings underline the need for more systematic research on this underexplored topic and for adequate teacher
education on child protection to be integrated into university training curricula.
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