Facilitation of adolescents' agency and hybrid integration
Abstract
This paper is based on a Horizon 2020 research project on the enhancement of migrant children's ability to contribute to the change of their conditions of integration in the education system in seven countries (Children Hybrid Integration: Learning Dialogue as a way of Upgrading Policies of Participation, CHILD-UP; GA 822400). The paper draws on data collected in vocational schools, with adolescents aged 14–16, in Italy. It draws on transcribed interactions to analyse activities in school classrooms in which facilitators support migrant adolescent's agency in producing narratives of their personal cultural trajectories. The paper shows how facilitators and adolescents share the rights of telling the narratives, the gender differences that become visible in the adolescents' narratives, and the ways in which facilitation supports the hybrid integration of migrant adolescents.
INTRODUCTION
This paper is based on a Horizon 2020 European research project (Children Hybrid Integration: Learning Dialogue as a way of Upgrading Policies of Participation; GA 822400) on empowering migrant children's ability to participate in changing their social conditions of integration in educational interventions and policies in seven countries. The specific part of the project which is presented in this paper aimed to evaluate activities in school classrooms in which facilitators supported migrant children's agency in producing narratives of their social experiences. In Childhood Studies, the concept of agency implies that children can make choices and contribute to changes in society (Baraldi & Cockburn, 2018; James, 2009; Leonard, 2016; Oswell, 2013). In particular, this paper investigates how to facilitate migrant adolescents' agency through the production of narratives about their personal trajectories, on the one hand, and how gender differences influence the narratives produced, on the other. The interplay between classroom intervention (facilitation), adolescents' agency, production of narratives, and gender differences is therefore explored in depth. The paper responds to the following research questions. How does facilitation of migrant children's agency work? What are the narratives produced in facilitated interactions? How does gender influence the production of these narratives? Additionally, since in some cases the pandemic compelled the implementation of online facilitation, the paper shows that there were no meaningful differences in facilitation between online and in-presence interactions.
The paper draws on data collected in vocational schools, with adolescents aged 14–16, in Italy. The focus here is on the Italian dataset since it was the largest in terms of adolescents' participation. Seminal studies on childhood focus on the general category of “children” (e.g., Cockburn, 2013; James et al., 1998; James & James, 2004; James & Prout, 1990; Qvortrup et al., 2009). This paper focuses on the ways of facilitating migrant adolescents' agency (see also Percy-Smith, 2018). Psychological approaches have frequently observed adolescents' identities as unstable and their behaviours as at risk (Ayman-Nolley & Tara, 2000; France, 2000). However, the condition of instability and risk can be high for adolescents for social rather than psychological reasons. In Italy, for instance, most migrant adolescents are oriented to choosing vocational schools after lower secondary schools since they are expected to have low learning ability and motivations. Migrants account for 12.5% of the total number of students in vocational schools, against 4.2% of those who attend “licei,” the schools with the highest level of education; vocational schools are attended by 33.5% of migrant adolescents against 18.3% of adolescents with Italian citizenship (ISMU report 2020). This has rarely to do with proficiency in the Italian language since almost all these adolescents were born in Italy or at least speak Italian well.
Against this background, it is interesting to analyse what happens when migrant adolescents are supported in the production of narratives about their social experiences. The analysis focuses on a collection of video-recorded data of classroom meetings, documenting facilitation of migrant adolescents' agency in producing narratives. Section “Theoretical background” outlines the theoretical background, and Section “Research plan and methodology” outlines the methodological aspects of the study. Sections “Facilitating adolescents' narratives about interpersonal relations” and “Facilitating adolescents' narratives about classroom inclusion” analyse seven excerpts from transcriptions of video-recorded meetings showing facilitators' actions, migrant adolescents' agency and types of narratives produced in classroom interactions. The last section includes a summary of the analysis and some final considerations.
THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
The present analysis is based on the combination of three conceptual dimensions: facilitation as a way of supporting adolescents' agency, narratives as ways of showing adolescents' agency, and non-essentialist view of migrant adolescents' experience.
Agency is a form of active participation based on choices of action, which can affect the agent's social context (Baraldi, 2022). Achieving agency requires the promotion of participants' rights to choose their own ways of acting, enabling them to gain rights and responsibilities to produce knowledge, i.e., to gain epistemic authority (Baraldi, 2015). The analysis of the social conditions of children's agency shows that structural limitations are frequently imposed on this agency based on a hierarchical generational order in society (Alanen, 2009; Gallagher, 2006; Leonard, 2016; Mayall, 2002). However, research also shows that these hierarchical forms can be mitigated by the facilitation of children's agency (Baraldi, 2014a, 2021).
Facilitation is a form of interaction that aims to ensure that children's views are taken seriously in society (Matthews, 2003) and that their self-expression is supported by involving them in relevant social processes and sharing power and responsibility with them (Shier, 2001; Wyness, 2013). Facilitation is shown in sequences of facilitators and children's actions in which children's agency is supported. It deals with children as persons who can express their own perspectives and experiences. Facilitating agency means empowering children's personal expression by showing sensitivity for this expression. My previous research has highlighted several facilitative actions supporting children's agency in the education system (e.g., Baraldi, 2022).
Facilitation can support children's production of narratives since children can choose what to narrate about their perspectives and experiences and how to do so (Baraldi & Iervese, 2017). In particular, facilitation can support the production of ontological narratives (Somers, 1994), regarding relations, events, places, and objects having particular relevance for adolescents' experience. The production of these narratives shows the rights associated with the activity of narrating (Norrick, 2007), and thus adolescents' rights to produce knowledge. Investigating the interactional production of narratives means analysing the ways in which each narrative is shared and supported in the interaction; in particular, the way in which each participant contributes to constructing and negotiating narratives, as teller of a story, co-teller who collaborates in telling the story or active listener who gives some feedback to the story-telling.
This paper analyses how facilitators can support migrant adolescents' ontological narratives in multicultural classrooms. Frequently, the definitions of “multicultural” classroom is based on the identification of participants with different cultural backgrounds and identities (Mahon & Cushner, 2012) and studies on intercultural education stress how different cultural identities can be handled by enhancing intercultural dialogue (Grant & Portera, 2011; Guilherme, 2012; Portera, 2008). However, this is an essentialist perspective which “presents people's individual behaviour as entirely defined and constrained by the cultures in which they live so that the stereotype becomes the essence of who they are” (Holliday, 2011, p. 4), and therefore emphasises cultural stereotypes in the classroom.
Non-essentialist studies see identity as fluid and contingently constructed in communication (Byrd Clark & Dervin, 2014; Piller, 2007; Tupas, 2014), i.e., they see it as hybrid identity (Jackson, 2014; Kramsch & Uryu, 2012) based on personal cultural trajectories (Holliday & Amadasi, 2020). Hybridity is conceived as the outcome of interactions designed to “open up many possibilities for how narratives can intertwine and express themselves” (Ibid., p. 11). Following this constructivist approach, the classroom is here conceived as “multicultural” since it shows the production of narratives about different personal cultural trajectories rather than being the sum of individuals with different, predefined cultural identities. Thus, the intercultural dimension of the classroom is based on the interlacement of different personal cultural trajectories. This paper investigates how the facilitation of migrant adolescents' agency can create the condition for producing ontological narratives, about personal cultural trajectories, which show hybrid integration within the classroom. Facilitation can support hybrid integration through the combination of facilitative actions and adolescents' exercise of agency in producing narratives of personal cultural trajectories in classroom interactions.
RESEARCH PLAN AND METHODOLOGY
The study was conducted in three vocational schools, which were selected in the research project as they represent the type of migrant adolescents' inclusion typical of the Italian education system. The schools were chosen in one of the areas in which the project was carried out, a specific province in northeast Italy. Twelve classroom meetings were video-recorded in six classes of adolescents aged 14–16, 52% of whom had migrant background, with similar percentages in the three schools. Almost all migrant adolescents are born in Italy from migrant parents. However, for ethical reasons, it was not possible to ask the adolescents for their countries of origin or the migration journeys they undertook, unless they decided to reveal them in the facilitated interaction. All meetings were coordinated by external facilitators, working for two local cooperatives that frequently organise workshops in schools. Three classes in school 1, including only girls, participated in a workshop aiming to contrast prejudice and exclusion by supporting adolescents' personal contributions to positive classroom relations. One class in school 2, including girls and boys, and two classes in school 3, including only boys, participated in another workshop aiming to make classroom conflicts explicit by promoting active listening, appreciation of diverse positions and affective relationships.
Video-recordings were chosen as method of data collection since they allow for direct observation and documentation, and they capture the complexity of the interaction. Researchers can re-consider the recorded data many times, thus being able to reflect on their meanings, and the accurate transcription of video-recordings can be used to document if and in which ways the facilitation of adolescents' agency, production of narratives and hybrid integration are achieved in the classroom, thus also encouraging discussions between researchers.
Some limitations or disadvantages of video-recording should also be taken into account; first, incompleteness of observation since video-recordings cannot include everything in the context of the interaction, and second, possible lack of spontaneity and problems of ethics since voices, faces, and physical appearances are recorded. Video-recording must be used carefully, avoiding inhibiting participation and breaching ethics. On the one hand, this study has confirmed the author's long-standing experience showing that, if participants are intensively involved in communication, they tend to forget the video-recorder quickly. On the other hand, the study has followed the key principles of ethics, distributing information sheets and consent forms, securing the emotional well-being, rights, dignity, and personal values of participants, according to the ethical guidelines of the European Commission (GDPR 679/16) and approved by the competent Ethics Committee of the author's university.
The research project was heavily affected by the pandemic outbreak. It should have been conducted in March–May 2020, but in Italy all schools closed at the end of February. The project was rescheduled in Autumn 2020, but new waves of the pandemic affected the new schedule as well. Despite these difficulties, adolescents, teachers, and facilitators expressed their commitment and willingness to continue participating in the research project. Video-recordings were conducted with the researchers and facilitators in the classroom whenever possible, but also with all participants on a digital platform in different locations. Thus, facilitation had to adapt to the use of digital platforms, whose impact on facilitation methods and adolescents' agency is a key issue.
In recent years, the use of digital platforms in education has been explored for what concerns both their ambivalent effects (Beuchamp & Kennewell, 2010; Livingstone, 2012) and their ideological meanings (Decuypere, 2019; Grimaldi & Ball, 2019). During the pandemic, there was a general consent among teachers and experts that a massive use of digital platforms had negative effects on learning. Adapting video-recording and facilitation to digital platforms also presented relevant problems since non-verbal communication strategies in face-to-face interactions, such as eye contact or smiles, were not possible during digital meetings, and adolescents frequently switched off cameras, thus reducing dialogue among them. However, facilitators were able to support adolescents' personal expressions through a variety of methods, including the use of drawings and images (see Amadasi & Baraldi, 2022). Therefore, no substantial difference was found with regard to the facilitation of adolescents' agency between meetings held in the classroom and meetings on a digital platform.
All adolescents, migrant and non-migrant, were invited to produce ontological narratives based on their relevant personal experiences. This paper deals with migrant adolescents' narratives. The following sections show examples of facilitation of migrant adolescents' production of ontological narratives concerning their personal cultural trajectories. These examples, which are representative of the facilitated interactions recorded during the meetings, show how facilitated actions supported migrant adolescents' agency, how this agency was exercised to produce their narratives, what types of narratives were produced, and the ways in which facilitators and migrant adolescents shared the rights of telling the narratives and facilitators' actions that upgraded adolescents' epistemic authority. The examples show that, despite their representation as low performers, migrant adolescents are competent in narrating, with facilitation being therefore able to produce complex narratives.
Since the research took place in two gender-segregated schools and in a mixed one, the examples also show the ways in which gender is displayed and performed in interactions (Connell, 2009; West & Zimmerman, 2009). Adolescents' narratives show the reproduction of a gendered structure (Connell, 2009) that contributes to the construction of school culture. The gendered structure is certainly associated with the type of courses that the schools offer, i.e., fashion (school 1), mechanics (school 3), and business studies (school 2), but this research did not investigate this association.
The analysis focuses on the facilitated interactions. Each action is considered as a turn of talk, and each turn of talk is observed as related to other turns of talk. The paper presents seven excerpts that include verbatim transcriptions, numbered turns of talk, and some conventions for overlapping (square brackets) and pauses (in seconds). In particular, the paper observes the “turn design,” defined as the way of selecting the action accomplished in a turn of talk (Heritage & Clayman, 2010, p. 46), for both facilitative actions and manifestations of adolescents' agency. For instance, an important turn design in facilitated interactions is formulation (Baraldi, 2014b), which focuses on the gist of participants' previous contributions, showing the facilitator's attention for and interest in their content, by summarising, making explicit or developing this gist. The analysis concerns (1) the facilitated interactions as sequences of alternated turns, designed in different ways, of adolescents and facilitators, (2) the ways in which facilitators act as co-tellers and active listeners, (3) the narratives produced in these interactions, and (4) the impact of gender differences in the production of these narratives.
FACILITATING ADOLESCENTS' NARRATIVES ABOUT INTERPERSONAL RELATIONS
Excerpts 1 and 2 are taken from meetings facilitated remotely in school 1, including both girls and boys. This facilitation was based on the production of drawings by adolescents, who showed them on the screen. Excerpts 3 and 4 are taken from face-to-face meetings in school 2 and including only girls. All sequences start with the facilitator's invitation to talk (data not shown). Excerpts 1–4 show the girls' narratives about trajectories of interpersonal affective relations. The girls reflect on these relations and show their personal feelings. The analysis of these excerpts shows that facilitators' turns, which support the production of adolescents' narratives, are designed as questions and formulations (co-telling) and minimal responses and appreciations (active listening). The facilitated conversation is more fluid in Excerpts 1–3 than in Excerpt 4.
Excerpt 1.F1 explains that her drawing includes her values, a little house and an important date (turn 1), then she produces an expanded narrative of the meanings of the values and of the date she wrote in her drawing (turn 3), she talks of her parents' families (turn 7) and explains that her parents' families come from different places (turn 9). The facilitator (FACf2) invites F1's to continue talking by producing a minimal response (turn 2), appreciates her story (turn 4), and invites her to elaborate more on it always through the use of a minimal response (turn 8). Moreover, FACf2 produces two important formulations: The first one develops F1's narrative and is followed by a request of clarification (turn 6); the second one, which is “so-prefaced” (Hutchby, 2007), makes F1's narrative content more explicit (turn 10).
| Excerpt 1 (school 1) | ||
| 01 | F1 | Well, I did this, I do not know if you can see ((shows the drawing)) well, here I wrote my va- the values, I made a little house, that I will explain later, and here I put an important date. Shall I try to explain it? |
| 02 | FACf2 | yes go |
| 03 | F1 | so I wrote three values that I think are very important for me, sincerity, family and ambition, em I chose ambition because in my opinion every person should believe in something, be ambitious at least, about what he/she wants to do, and sincerity because every that is, the truth must be told for better or for worse, because a friendship or even another relationship cannot be a close relationship or something without sincerity, and the family because in my opinion friends are there for you, then it depends on who you have at your side, there can be real friends or not, but the family is the only one that will always be by your side, for better or for worse. I have chosen a date which is 19 April 2019, where I and two other friends of mine have really become a group of best friends so far, and they are very close for me. I've designed a house which is the house in a place in Albania, ah because every summer I go there with my whole family, we get together ah that is I'm fine there in the end, and that's it |
| 04 | FACf2 | ah nice th[anks |
| 05 | FACf1 | [thank you |
| 06 | FACf2 | is it a house which is near mountains tell us so that is where is it? not the place itself but around that what to imagine it |
| 07 | F1 | I have the family of both my father and mother |
| 08 | FACf2 | [mh mh |
| 09 | F1 | [my father this one I did, is more in the country, instead my grandmother on my mother's side is in the city |
| 10 | FACf2 | ok so you have the chance to see two: to be in two parts, in two houses [with: either city or countryside |
| 11 | F1 | [right |
Excerpt 2.F2's explains that her narrative includes an important date when she met her best friend and a house with herself and her grandparents, whom she defines as the most important people in her life (turn 1). Moreover, F2 describes her feelings for her grandparents (turn 3) and stresses the importance of her best friend as a close and supportive person (turn 7). The facilitator acknowledges F2's first contribution with a minimal response (turn 2), appreciates her clarity, making the gist of her narrative explicit with a formulation (turn 4). Finally, she develops the gist of F2's contribution with another formulation, defining her friend as very precious, and shows appreciation (turn 8).
| Excerpt 2 (school 1) | ||
| 01 | F2 | So well ((she shows the drawing)) so practically there is an important date 2017 which is when I met my best friend, then there is a house which is in Manila, with three people which would be my grandparents and me, who: Practically they are: The most important people, because they are like a- like my family like my second family like parents, because they raised me as a child so for me hh they are parents |
| 02 | FACF2 | sure |
| 03 | F2 | em then well there is a heart that: means that for me they are family is the most important thing the thing that comes first, (3) ah ((smiles)) nothing m I finished |
| 04 | FACFf2 | ok no no, you have been very clear, therefore the family, also the grandparents, because they are all those who have been close to you and have helped you to grow up |
| 05 | F2 | yes |
| 06 | FACF2 | including [also |
| 07 | F2 | [yes the people who have always been close to me in the difficult moments I mean in fact my best friend has been a very important person who has always been close to me always always so for me she is the sister that I m a sister that I lost when I was little so, she was practically my twin sister that I lost, so she is like my sister because she has always been close to me and she supports me in everything |
| 08 | FACf2 | she's very precious it's very nice |
| 09 | F2 | mh mh |
Excerpt 3.F3 announces her intention to talk of her sister's gift (turn 1). She starts by talking about two necklaces that are the symbols of a strong affective relation (turn 3). Then, she mentions her sister who lives in London (turn 5), describing her age (turn 7), their separation (turn 9), their fights and their affective relation (turns 11 and 13), her sister's independent life (turns 23 and 25) and their special affective relation (turn 31). The facilitator (FACf) leaves the floor to F3, giving nonverbal and minimal verbal responses (turns 2, 4, 8 and 10), asking a question (turn 6), and showing appreciation by laughing at F3's contribution about fights with her sister (turn 12). In turn 14, FACf2 makes the last part of F3's contribution explicit with a formulation; then she asks several other questions, both closed (turns 16 and 18) and open ended (turns 20 and 28). Finally, she develops F3's narrative with two additional formulations (turns 26 and 30).
| Excerpt 3 (school 3) | ||
| 01 | F3 | I wanted to talk about a gift my sister gave me |
| 02 | FACf | ((nods)) |
| 03 | F3 | (a heart gift) because there are two necklaces, then you put them together and form a heart, so one piece to me and one piece to her |
| 04 | FACf | ((nods)) |
| 05 | F3 | so my sister, who no longer lives with me, went to London |
| 06 | FACf | ah in London! And how old is she? Is she older or younger? |
| 07 | F3 | yes, she will soon be twenty-one |
| 08 | FACf | yes |
| 09 | F3 | so we have already left each other twice because when we came to Italy, eh my sister came here to Italy before me, so I was at home for one year |
| 10 | FACf | ((nods)) |
| 11 | F3 | and afterwards- but we always fight |
| 12 | FACf | hhh |
| 13 | F3 | always always but every time when she is not with me I say to her I do not miss her but [I miss her |
| 14 | FACf | [she does not miss you ((nodding)) |
| 15 | F3 | so but when she is near me we fight every time but when she is far from me I always miss her |
| 16 | FACf | sure and in London does she know anyone? How |
| 17 | F3 | yes my brother |
| 18 | FACf | ah so you have both your brother and sister in London? |
| 19 | F3 | yes |
| 20 | FACf | okay and how do they get on there? How is life compared to here? |
| 21 | F3 | my sister? |
| 22 | FACf | yes |
| 23 | F3 | a little bit it's not like now because now she does her own work she has her own money |
| 24 | FACf | yes |
| 25 | F3 | her things, it's not like now that before here in Italy there was already the house and the food on the table and so on, but now she has to have her money so she has to work |
| 26 | FACf | ok so maybe it was difficult at the beginning but now [she has her own life |
| 27 | F3 | [yes but now it's going better |
| 28 | FACf | is there something you admire in your sister? a quality of hers, something for which |
| 29 | F3 | I like my sister because she will always have: how can I say? she is always inside me |
| 30 | FACf | that is she understands you |
| 31 | F3 | we understand each other right away like if there is a problem she already understands what she has to do she is already ready to be near me |
Excerpt 4.F4 tells the story of a bracelet, reporting on her difficulties in trusting others and on what she thinks of friendship (turn 1). FACf develops F4's narrative with a formulation (turn 2) and provides a minimal nonverbal confirmation to her reaction (turn 4). F4 expands on her narrative by stressing the importance of the bracelet (turn 5). In complex turn 6, FACf stresses F4's epistemic authority with an appreciation (“here is an important word”), develops the meaning of her interpersonal relations with a formulation and asks a question to enhance her story. Then she encourages F4 to go on with minimal invitations (turns 8 and 10). F4 describes sharing her feelings with a friend (turn 11) and adds that her pessimist view does not disappear when she is with her friend (turn 15). FACf appreciates (turn 16) and, after a negotiation of meanings with F5 (data not shown), F4 talks about a sort of forced optimism. After a new side sequence with F5 (data not shown), FACf asks for clarification showing again her interest (turn 19) and F4 mentions her optimism with other people (turn 20). FACf repeats the content of F4's narrative (turn 21) and F4 stresses her ability in solving small problems (turn 24). After the teacher's short comment, FACf asks two focused questions to clarify F4's point of view (turn 25), enhancing F4's final, solemn ontological statement (turns 26 and 28, “I am my own judge”).
| Excerpt 4 (school 3) | ||
| 01 | F4 | I brought this bracelet because since I was a child I've always been a person who finds it very hard to trust people, that is, I may joke with them, but it takes me a long, long time to get to trust and: Let us say that: My best friend w we met by c- well, by chance and we immediately trusted each other but even after a few minutes, well, as soon as we saw each other, there was not even a moment of I mean like distrust |
| 02 | FACf | diffidence? |
| 03 | F4 | exactly |
| 04 | FACf | ((nods)) |
| 05 | F4 | and so for me it is very important |
| 06 | FACf | ok then, here an important word, it seems to me is understanding, right? With some people you do not know how, there is immediately understanding and so you manage to go over those walls. Tell us something else em that can that can be useful. How do you feel when you are with him? |
| 07 | F4 | ah he makes me feel good well in the sense well I do not kno- I mean |
| 08 | FACf | let us try |
| 09 | F4 | let us say that both he and I think a lot but a lot a lot |
| 10 | FACf | ((nods)) |
| 11 | F4 | and let us say that when we are together we manage not to think, that is to say to leave out all the thoughts and we manage to feel well |
| [three turns missing] | ||
| 15 | F4 | eh that is, thoughts are always there, however, that is, when we are together maybe we have a moment one of the few quiet moments of the day because the thoughts we have, that is both with ourselves are very pessimistic |
| 16 | FACf | ah interesting |
| [2 turns missing] | ||
| 19 | FACf | can we understand this discourse of pessimism better for a moment? Because it's very interesting |
| 20 | F4 | let us say that maybe with others I'm very optimistic |
| 21 | FACf | you are optimistic with others |
| 22 | F4 | yes in the sense I say but yes but |
| 23 | Tf | you will make it |
| 24 | F4 | it will be solved, that way then with me ah: well, when I have a small problem, whatever, I cannot give myself the strength alone |
| 25 | FACf | ((nods)) ok but do you judge yourself a lot? That is, do you feel unsuitable, inadequate [that you could [do more? |
| 26 | F4 | [I am my own judge |
| 27 | FACf | eh? |
| 28 | F4 | I am my own judge |
FACILITATING ADOLESCENTS' NARRATIVES ABOUT CLASSROOM INCLUSION
Excerpt 5 was recorded in school 1; excerpts 6 and 7 in school 3, which is attended only by boys. All meetings were recorded remotely. The narratives are promoted by the facilitators' questions about what is positive in the class (data not shown). The excerpts show the boys' narratives of their positive inclusion in the classroom context, also defending themselves and the class from possible negative assessments, in some cases providing short and fragmented contributions. Facilitation supports these narratives with turns designed as in excerpts 1–4, but these excerpts show that the facilitation of boys' narratives requires more effort than the facilitation of the girls.
Excerpt 5.M1 stresses the importance of respect and mutual help and includes an example of support concerning language proficiency (turn 1). Both facilitators appreciate the narrative (turns 2, 3), and FACf1 expands on her appreciation asking about M1's condition as a migrant. M1's following turns are short and based on facilitators' questions. M1 reveals that he has not arrived recently in Italy (turns 4 and 5). The facilitators acknowledge this contribution, then FACf1 asks about M1's personal experience (turn 9) and M1 reports the feeling of being supported and respected in the class (turns 10 and 12). FACF provides a short but complex final turn 13, including repetition and acknowledgement (“also respected ok”), appreciations (“good I am pleased”, “very good”), and a formulation which makes M1's short contributions explicit (“so mutual help, and respect also”).
| Excerpt 5 (school 1) | ||
| 01 | M1 | Ah in my opinion it is like respect and help others like no help like someone you know Italian well and like new student, who no he/she does not sp- you do not know how to speak Italian well, help him like he does not understand something well or does not do the homework the problem of understanding something |
| 02 | FACf2 | [very well very clear |
| 03 | FACf1 | [ok I understand you were very clear so for you it is - an inclusive class is a class that helps you like whe- [are you a new classmate? Did you arrive now? This year? |
| 04 | M1 | [yes no |
| 05 | M1 | no no no |
| 06 | FACf1 | ah ok |
| 07 | M1 | before |
| 08 | FACf2 | [ok |
| 09 | FACf1 | [ok did you feel helped? |
| 10 | M1 | ah yes |
| 11 | FACf1 | from your class? |
| 12 | M1 | and respected |
| 13 | FACf1 | also respected ok good I am pleased so mutual help and respect also very good thank you M12 |
Excerpt 6.M2 tells a story of mutual respect and sharing, despite different ethnic groups (turn 1) and stresses the importance of different ethnic groups and different thoughts (turn 3). FACf acknowledges M2's contribution (turn 2) and FACm shows his interest in and surprise for M2's narrative of ethnicity, adding a question about classroom problems (turns 4 and 6). M2 claims that he stays away from problems (turn 10) and that he and his classmates have never done serious damage to the school (turn 12), thus showing suspicion for the facilitators' questions. FACf provides an acknowledgment (turn 11) and a comment, suggesting her interest in relational problems, rather than damage in the school, and asking if M2 has experienced such problems (turn 13). M2 confirms his experience of problems as a migrant at an earlier age (turn 14).
| Excerpt 6 (school 2) | ||
| 01 | M1 | It is a class in which you really respect each other because eh and there are many ethnic groups in this class however you can still find a point on which everyone agrees that there is no non- not- not no- nobody creates problems and we respect each other |
| 02 | FACf | Fine |
| 03 | M1 | as far as we can be (?) a large class full of ethnic groups of different thoughts |
| 04 | FACm | eh you are the very first one to use- but maybe even in all the classes I've been in you are the first to use the word ethnicity |
| 05 | FACf | it's true |
| 06 | FACm | you are the first that has ever happened to me to me personally so you surprised me M2 I have to say it and you said there are no problems for you there are none relevant so what is for you a problem in the classroom? |
| 07 | M1 | I did not hear you |
| 08 | Tf | a problem for you |
| 09 | FACm | problems no you said there are no problems inside the class |
| 10 | M1 | usually I always try to understand what the problem is to try to stay away from it right? I always manage to see the negative side of- of things but no matter how hard I try I do not see I do not see things - I do not see things that can (seem like problems that are) negative in this class yes eh as I said before we are really very different but we manage to respect each other and no matter how much I try to find something that is not is not good- it may be perhaps the the noise we create |
| 11 | FACf | Fine |
| 12 | M1 | if anything that because we have never done serious damage to the school we do not- we do not break things we do not paint the walls |
| 13 | FACf | no oh well wait wait that is, we are pretty sure that you will not do it also because otherwise it would be a very big problem but sometimes we talk about problems in a class also because maybe I just give an example there are groups that do not integrate with each other then maybe they remain how to say? three people are always the three of them other four are always the four of them this thing is not a tragedy but it happens very often in the classes that there is no homogeneity has it ever happened to you? |
| 14 | M1 | yes I had this problem when I was younger that I was jus- because I was not born here I arrived in Italy after a while and I had this problem because I did not know the language |
Excerpt 7.M3's narrative reports the very positive experience of mutual trust in a multi-ethnic class (turns 1, 3, 5). FACf enhances M3's narrative with a minimal repetition (turn 2), a development as interrogative formulation including a long pause, waiting for M3's contribution that is not provided (turn 4) and a question on M3's origins (turn 6), which is responded by M3 (turn 7). FACf makes M3's answer explicit through the use of a formulation (turn 8) and M3 adds a comment about the place of birth of some classmates (turn 9). FACf shows interest for the class ethnic variety (turn 10). However, M3 hesitates to respond (turn 11) and FACf clarifies that she is not evaluating him (turn 12). M3 links the relational richness of the class to the importance of learning different languages collaboratively (turn 13) and FACf appreciates this contribution, then providing an interrogative formulation, which makes it explicit (turn 16), and an appreciation (turn 18). However, M3 does not seem at ease and the facilitators take the floor much more frequently than in other circumstances. FACm investigates about bad words as a way of learning Italian (turns 19 and 21), but M3 does not seem to appreciate this contribution (turn 22, “it depends”). FACm first stresses that it was a joke and that he learned the language in that way, then he changes trajectory with an open question on the negative aspects of the class (turn 25). M3 rejects this question and FACf tries to reassure him and asks new questions (turn 27). M3 stresses that he is the quietest person in the class (turn 30) and FACf provides a final appreciation (turn 31).
| Excerpt 7 (school 2) | ||
| 01 | M3 | That we all know each other we are- we trust each other |
| 02 | FACf | we know and trust each other yes |
| 03 | M3 | that that we are a multi-ethnic class |
| 04 | FACm | is this a thing for you- a good thing? (4) Right? Is diversity within the classroom good for you? |
| 05 | M3 | yes it's a strength of our class |
| 06 | FACf | oh please tell us why I mean where does this positive you you originate what is your origin? |
| 07 | M3 | I have Ghanaian origins but I was born here and |
| 08 | FACf | fine your family is Ghanaian but you were born in Italy fine a- |
| 09 | M3 | even if in this class there are also those who were born here we are always friends |
| 10 | FACf | ah this thing is clear everyone says it and then obviously it is so and instead this thing that you said that according to you the fact that there are different ethnic groups is a richness in what do you see it? Where is it that you enrich yourself with diversity? |
| 11 | M3 | that (6) mh |
| 12 | FACf | there is no right and wrong M3 not- there is not- there is no emptiness there is nothing what you think is the right thing take it easy |
| 13 | M3 | that in every moment we always learn different languages |
| 14 | FACf | ((laughs)) eh this surely |
| 15 | M3 | (?) of other languages and each of us says the meaning |
| 16 | FACf | nice so you often confront yourself wondering how do you say this thing in your language of origin how is this said in yours? |
| 17 | M3 | Yes |
| 18 | FACf | here we are this is a funny game |
| 19 | FACm | starting with the bad words I bet |
| 20 | FACf | Sure |
| 21 | FACm | bad words are the first |
| 22 | M3 | it depends |
| 23 | FACm | it depends ((laughs)) no yes it's joking eh but come on I did it come on I think everyone did it |
| 24 | FACf | oh come on |
| 25 | FACm | fine and something M3 that you like a little less? |
| (4) | ||
| 26 | M3 | I cannot tell you, I mean |
| 27 | FACf | no guys be informal please (?) do you like everything? Is there never a thing that makes you a little nervous about any of your classmates? |
| 28 | M3 | no no I'm the quietest prof |
| 29 | FACf | are you the quieter? |
| 30 | FACm | (?) |
| 31 | FACf | excellent well good for you and good also for all those who are next to you because having a quiet person next to you is not a small thing (3) thanks M3 |
CONCLUSIONS
Excerpts 1–7 show examples of facilitation of adolescents' ontological narratives (Somers, 1994) about their personal cultural trajectories (Holliday & Amadasi, 2020). First, the analysis of these excerpts highlights the facilitators' actions that show attention to and interest in the adolescents' narratives, confirming previous research findings (Baraldi, 2014a, 2014b, 2022; Baraldi & Iervese, 2017). These actions are: (1) minimal responses that support adolescents' fluid narratives by either inviting the adolescents to continue talking or by acknowledging their narratives (active listening); (2) formulations that make explicit or develop the gist of the adolescents' contributions (co-telling); (3) questions that encourage clarifications (focused questions) and expansions (above all open questions) of narratives (co-telling); (4) appreciations for adolescents' contributions (active listening).
Second, the analysis shows adolescents' agency, and the upgrading of their own authority in producing narratives, as (1) expansion of narratives, in particular when based on adolescents' initiatives (excerpts 1–4), and (2) rejection of formulations and questions (excerpts 6–7). Adolescents' agency is clearly linked to effective facilitative actions, which leave the floor to the adolescents (minimal responses), encourage (questions) or support (formulations) their narrative expansions and rejections. Adolescents' agency depends on facilitative actions, but these actions enhance and support adolescents' choices of actions and ways of narrating (Baraldi, 2014a, 2022). Facilitation may be considered as a specific form of generational order (Alanen, 2009) if this order is conceived as supporting, rather than reducing, the opportunities of children's exercise of agency (O'Shea, 2022). Facilitative actions are not ways of scaffolding (e.g., Sharpe, 2008), since they support adolescents in taking control of the process of producing knowledge (agency), rather than achieving knowledge (learning).
Third, the analysis shows that facilitation supports hybrid integration in two ways. First, hybrid integration is based on the negotiation of narratives of personal cultural trajectories. These narratives are co-constructed: adolescents' agency is primarily important in producing narratives, but this production is supported by facilitators' co-telling ad active listening. Second, hybrid integration is shown by narratives of personal trajectories of migration, such as interpersonal relations and inclusion in the classroom; these narratives show the hybrid construction of adolescents' trajectories.
Fourth, the analysis shows an important methodological aspect: facilitation can work through digital platforms, which can support adolescents' agency when interaction in presence is not possible. This success is probably linked to the way of facilitating conversation with one adolescent at a time. Other forms of facilitation can give room to the dialogic interlaced narratives of several peers (e.g., Baraldi, 2014a, 2022; Baraldi et al., 2022). However, the success of the way of facilitating, analysed in this paper, was confirmed by the adolescents' final evaluation: 81% of adolescents, both males and females, both migrants and non-migrants, showed clear appreciation for the facilitated activities in which they participated (data retrievable from the research report on the project's website: www.child-up.eu).
Finally, and importantly, the analysis shows that girls produced narratives concerning interpersonal relations (excerpts 1–4) and boys produced narratives of inclusion in the classroom context (excerpts 5–7). This difference of types of narratives might be influenced by types of facilitators' questions, which were different in schools 1–2, and in school 3. However, in school 1, where classes included boys and girls, this difference was also made evident by adolescents' volunteering in producing narratives. Thus, the analysis shows a gendered structure (Connell, 2009) of narratives of personal cultural trajectories, constructed in facilitated interactions. This finding does not deny the possibility of “undoing gender” in the interaction (Deutsch, 2007), which is confirmed by research on facilitation in primary and lower secondary schools. Thus, the analysis shows the gendered structure of adolescents' narratives rather than of facilitated interactions. This structure is associated with different degrees of narrative fluidity (higher in facilitation of girls' narratives) and different levels of complexity of facilitation (higher in facilitation of boys' narratives). This can lead to a reflection on how facilitation can deal with the gendered structure of narratives.
To conclude, the exploratory study conducted in Italy has shown the importance of facilitating narratives concerning personal cultural trajectories of migration to understand and support migrant adolescents' hybrid integration in the education system, but it has also shown the importance of the gendered structure of these narratives. These findings may lead to important reflections on the ways in which educational policies and actions can promote migrant adolescents' hybrid integration and deal with the gendered structure of narratives by introducing a facilitation system in education (Baraldi, 2021). However, the combination of the ways in which migrant adolescents' agency is facilitated, hybrid integration is promoted, and gender narratives are produced should be studied more systematically in higher secondary schools including adolescents with migrant background, also by comparing different social and cultural contexts.
Acknowledgements
Open access funding provided by Universita degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia within the CRUI-CARE Agreement.
FUNDING INFORMATION
European Commission, HRIZON 2020, GA 822400.
Biography
Claudio Baraldi (PhD) is Professor of Sociology of cultural and communicative processes at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia. His main research interest concerns facilitation of adult-children communication in the education system. On this topic, he has published extensively on edited international books and international journals, he has edited international books for Bloomsbury, Palgrave, Routledge, and Sage and he is publishing a book for Palgrave. Recently, he has coordinated the HORIZON 2020 project CHILD-UP (Children Hybrid Integration: Learning Dialogue as a way of Upgrading Policies of Participation) on migrant children integration in schools (2019–22). He is past-president of the Research Committee Sociology of Childhood (International Sociological Association). He currently serves as a member of the Board of the Research Network Sociology of Children and Childhood (European Sociological Association).
Open Research
DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT
The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author. The data are not publicly available due to privacy or ethical restrictions.
