Europe has recently seen a massive multi-ethnic influx of migrants, marred by high social costs of inter-ethnic confrontation. This has prompted scholars to develop training schemes to improve the social skills needed to cope with this situation. Decades of studies have acknowledged empathy as a crucial variable in the development of positive…

While developmental dyslexia has been extensively studied in children, research on adults is still rather limited. This paper aims to bridge the gap in existing research by presenting the findings of a study that examined the reading and spelling skills of adults with dyslexia and assessed the effectiveness of a linguistic intervention designed to…

Current higher education policies require universities to prepare students for integration into an ever-changing society where knowledge and hard skills rapidly become obsolete. Soft skills are the new alphabets of the 21st century. Service-learning is a pedagogical approach that has positive effects on soft skills development. What about its…

Based on the descriptive method of qualitative educational research, the present study explores music teaching at the stage of early adolescence in terms of general-school music teachers' viewpoints on factors defining the planning and implementation of music teaching. The study was based on qualitative analysis of data gathered in interviews with…

Interdisciplinarity is becoming increasingly important in education. With the rapidly evolving job market, an interdisciplinary education can prepare students for the flexibility and broad knowledge base required to adapt. At the University of Pisa, we recognized the value of an interdisciplinary educational environment during our participation in…

It is widely recognized that language acquisition is one of the key elements that can boost migrants' and refugees' social inclusion, although some research has stressed that the mastery of language can be intended as a necessary but not a sufficient condition in the process of integration. This contribution aims at shaping further analysis on the…

CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) is a recent teaching approach widely adopted in numerous international contexts, especially in Europe where it was promoted as a way to promote language learning within the educational system. When implemented, CLIL predominantly involves subject content teachers using English to teach their subject.…

Teachers' problem-based learning knowledge, abilities, and attitudes are important factors in successful K--12 PBL implementations. This article describes the development and use of a free, online module entitled "Design a Problem-Based Learning Experience." The module production, aligned with theories of andragogy, was a partnership…

This article reports the development and results of a project within the Comenius program to promote teachers' occupational well-being, in which Finnish, Irish, Italian, and German school communities participated between 2003 and 2006. The project made use of participatory action research, in which the occupational well-being of staff was…

Italy is well known for its difficulty in introducing any educational evaluation system. This paper explores the dynamics which occurred in Italy in 2010-2011, within the context of the umpteenth national pilot of school and staff evaluation. Our research object is an unfinished project, observed in its development. We get close to the struggles…

This study investigates possible individual and class correlates of defending and passive bystanding behavior in bullying, in a sample of 1,825 Italian primary school (mean age = 10 years 1 month) and middle school (mean age = 13 years 2 months) students. The findings of a series of multilevel regression models show that both individual (e.g.,…

In this chapter Dr. Cochran uses an empirically based overarching conceptual framework linking historical patterns, current policy goals and intervening influences as a tool for understanding the policy and program outcomes manifested in the early education programs of representative Western countries (Australia, France, Italy, Sweden). Policy…

This article presents the findings of a qualitative study conducted by the author on the implications of e-learning programmes for the higher education systems of the member states of the European Union. The study takes a look behind the scenes of the eLearning Programme and other e-learning actions within other European programmes by tapping into…

Examines the organization of quality circles in Italy, the training aspect of these quality circles, and advantages and limitations of quality circles. For successful circles, the author recommends a feasibility study by qualified consultants, an experimental pilot project confined to certain parts of the company, and a fully informed management.…

Monitoring the learning process in computer supported collaborative learning (CSCL) environments is a key element for supporting the efficacy of tutor actions. This article proposes an approach for analysing learning processes in a CSCL environment to support tutors in their monitoring tasks. The approach entails tracking the interactions within…