Abstract:

The school-family alliance, as documented for decades in the literature (Henderson, Berla, 1994; Epstein, 2001; Henderson, Mapp, 2002), appears to be strategic in promoting student learning and fostering a strong and inclusive educational relationship with a view to an overall improvement in the quality of life for all. This aspect also emerges from the Profile of Inclusive Teachers (AESIAD, 2012); in fact, among the competence areas of the value "Working with others" there is "Knowing how to work with parents and families": therefore, reference is made, on the one hand, to the importance of communication with families, especially, if they come from different cultural, linguistic, ethnic and social backgrounds, on the other hand, to the necessary acquisition of awareness about collaboration with families as quid pluris. Emphasis is also placed on the professional responsibility of teachers with respect to the effectiveness of such collaboration.

In Italy, the alternation of formal relational practices (initial annual meetings, individual interviews) and informal ones (parties, shows, educational trips), as well as the propagation of seemingly generic practical indications (identifying an appropriate communication style, overcoming distrust and overcoming prejudice, promoting information and, above all, training) might suggest a rhetorical alliance. In reality, the need to operationalize such an alliance fits within a national normative framework imbued with significant pedagogical suggestions: despite some dissimilarities related to the order and grade of school, the pedagogical approach adopted, and the geographical context, there has been the spread of numerous practices aimed at building dialogical relationships. There is, however, the risk of "trespassing": it is, therefore, important to "delineate the boundaries," circumscribing the scope of action with reference to theoretical-conceptual frameworks and, especially, the tools to be used.

Therefore, the goal of the present work will be to write a systematic review of the literature on building a school-family alliance in order to foster the accessibility of all students to places of life, developing new ways of interpreting and valuing the differences of each.

Keywords:

School, family, inclusion, teacher education.