Calendar: PhD SPEF

This activity is part of the Open Seminar Series of the PhD Programme

Please register here

Staying with (Dis)Comfort: Embodied Methodologies and the Work of Becoming a scholar

This seminar foregrounds a decolonial gaze and the notion of epistemic resistance as methodological and conceptual apertures for educational research. From such a line of thinking, knowledge production itself becomes a contested terrain shaped by coloniality, disciplinary habits, and inherited binaries. A decolonial stance here does not merely add perspectives from the “South”. Rather, it interrogates the very epistemic infrastructures that define what counts as data, rigor, participation, and theory. Here, methodology is no longer a neutral technique arising from “pure” cognitive processes, but one that is shaped by embodiment that includes situated, sensing, affective, and relational bodies. Our trajectories, vulnerabilities, privileges, and emotions shape what becomes visible as “data” and how it is represented in scholarly writing. To frame embodiment as methodology means to highlight and to indeed acknowledge the existential dimensions of epistemic work and to resist extractive and overly proceduralised models of inquiry.

Such a stance, and the issues that follow, causes discomfort in the research endeavour and in the work of becoming a scholar. Certainty is lost, networks are loose and uncertainty seems to prevail. And yet, discomfort is not an obstacle to scholarly work but a constitutive dimension of it. Discomfort surfaces when inherited epistemic habits no longer align with lived realities. It appears when embodiment resists abstraction and when relational entanglements unsettle the fiction of the autonomous scholar. What becomes possible when discomfort is cultivated as epistemic resistance?

Drawing on previous research projects and joint contributions, I will make the case that openness, participation, and inclusion are not self-evident, normative dimensions of all educational practices. Rather, they are processes that are constantly enacted through boundary-making practices across timespaces. Given these foci, what becomes visible when we treat embodiment not as a topic but as a condition of knowledge production? How do institutional, epistemic, digital, affective boundaries, selectively allow or restrict participation? And how can a mobile, reflexive, and decolonial gaze help us stay with methodological discomfort rather than seek to resolve it?

The session combines conceptual inputs, dialogical engagement, and collective reflection on participants’ own projects. Participants are invited to bring methodological dilemmas into the conversation as we explore how research practices themselves participate in shaping the very worlds they seek to study.

Readings

Bagga-Gupta, S. & Messina Dahlberg, G. (2021). Disentangling participation across scales. Perspectives on practices of access, communication and inclusion in contemporary lives. In special issue: “Transmethodology. Research Beyond Proceduralism”. Outlines. Critical Practice Studies, 22(2021) https://tidsskrift.dk/outlines/article/view/12586

Gross, B., & Messina Dahlberg, G. (2025). The premises and promises of diversity-sensitive education beyond boundaries: attempts at decolonizing educational policies, research and practices. In S. Bagga-Gupta (Ed.). The Palgrave Handbook of Decolonizing Educational and Language Sciences. Palgrave.  https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-80322-2_25

Messina Dahlberg, G. (2023). Methodological explorations of the study of access, inclusion and participation in and across digital/physical space and time boundaries. In C. Damşa, A. Rajala, G. Ritella, J. Brouwer (Eds.) Re-theorising Learning and Research Methods in Learning Research. (pp. 174-192). Routledge. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003205838-12/methodological-explorations-study-access-inclusion-participation-across-digital-physical-space-time-boundaries-giulia-messina-dahlberg

Short-bio

Giulia Messina Dahlberg is associate professor in Education at the Department of Education and Special Education, University of Gothenburg, Sweden. She brings over two decades of experience in education, beginning her career as an upper-secondary school teacher in Falun, Sweden, before moving into university teaching and research. This dual background informs her interest on educational processes, with a particular focus on how institutions can support or hinder interaction, participation and access to a meaningful life. Her research spans three interconnected areas: transitions and widening participation in higher education, technology-mediated and data-driven educational practices and diversity and inclusion, especially regarding language, culture, and policy. Giulia’s work critically examines how people engage with education across diverse settings, from online language classrooms to simulation-based vocational training. 

Giulia has investigated how digital tools and language ideologies shape educational practices and highlights that inclusion and participation do not automatically increase through technology alone. Instead, they are actively constructed and shaped by teachers, students and other actors in a sociomaterial continuum.  

She teaches and supervises students at undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral levels, and is committed to fostering inclusive and intellectually stimulating learning environments. Giulia is also involved in collaborative research projects and cross-sectorial professional networks that explore educational practice and policy.

https://www.gu.se/om-universitetet/hitta-person/giuliamessinadahlberg

https://www.gu.se/en/research/simulator-based-teaching-and-learning-in-vocational-education 

This activity is part of the Open Seminar Series of the PhD Programme.

Please register here

Critical Discourse Analysis in Educational Research: A praxis

Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) is a transdisciplinary approach to empirical research that investigates the linguistic and semiotic mediation of power relations in society. This workshop explores both the potential and the limitations of CDA in understanding and transforming dynamics of inclusion and exclusion within educational contexts.

Following a theoretical and historical introduction to Critical Discourse Analysis within the social sciences, the session will present a research protocol designed to support its systematic and reflexive application in pedagogical research. Drawing on a series of case studies from the international literature, the workshop will demonstrate how this methodology can be used to analyse educational policies related to teacher professionalism, curricula and teaching resources for citizenship education, children’s multimodal learning through play, and practices of critical literacy among adults and adolescents in contexts characterised by sociocultural diversity and complexity.

The seminar aims to provide researchers, educators, and teachers with conceptual and methodological tools to critically interpret the discourses of oppression and emancipation that underpin educational practices and pedagogical research.

The workshop will be supported by text in English but the teacher is open to work in both English and Italian.

Readings

Fabrbro, F. (2024), L'analisi critica del discorso per la ricerca educativa. Teorie, metodi, strumenti. Carocci Editore.

Short-bio

Francesco Fabbro is a Researcher in Experimental Pedagogy at the University of Rome Tor Vergata. His research, published in national and international venues, focuses on empirical research methods in education, intercultural pedagogy, media literacy education, and teacher education. He is co-author, with M. Ranieri and A. Nardi, of Media Education nella scuola multiculturale. Teorie, pratiche, strumenti (ETS, 2019).

Research on inclusion, well-being and sustainability in education 

MODULO G - Early childhood and school (Responsabile: Emilia Restiglian) 

Beato Pellegrino - Sala Multimediale/Riunioni

Abstract

The course aims to provide basic knowledge of the early childhood system, understood as the period before compulsory education, within both national and European contexts.
Several research strands related to early childhood will be presented, particularly those related to interculturality, observation and documentation as support for context assessment, and participatory research.
Participants are invited to encouraged to share ideas and practices in early childhood education from their countries of origin.
The course consists of two lectures:
Research on early childhood between split system and integrated system (4 hours)
Interculturality and early childhood: educational system, practices, and parents’ involvement (3 hours)
Learning goals:
Developing knowledge of the childhood system in Italy and Europe
Developing knowledge of certain strands of research on childhood
Teaching methods
Lessons will be conducted in a participatory manner. Discussion and the construction of shared knowledge will be strongly encouraged.

References

• Clark, A. (2005) ‘Ways of seeing: using the Mosaic approach to listen to young children’s perspectives’, in Clark, A., Kjørholt and Moss, P. (eds.) Beyond Listening. Children’s perspectives on early childhood services. Bristol: Policy Press, pp. 29–49.
  https://learningaway.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/RL56-Extract-the-Mosaic-Approach-EARLY-YEARS.pdf
• Simanjuntak, M. B., Lumingkewas, M. S., Sutrisno, S., & Hutabarat, C. (2023). The Importance of Applying Enculturation in Early Childhood (The Study of Intercultural and Language Learning). Innovative: Journal Of Social Science Research, 3(2), 5189-5196.
  https://j-innovative.org/index.php/Innovative/article/view/945/723

Scienze Pedagogiche

MODULO G - Infanzia, scuola, orientamento (Responsabile: Emilia Restiglian) 

Beato Pellegrino - Sala Multimediale/Riunioni

Abstract

Il corso tratterà la prospettiva dell’orientamento educativo e professionale (Da Re, 2024), inteso come un orientamento che facilita l’inclusione personale, sociale, formativa e professionale delle persone, come processo continuo e flessibile, lifelong, lifewide e lifedeep learning, che mette al centro la persona, e che ha come fine l’autorealizzazione di ognun*, per valorizzare le unicità individuali e per favorire il bene comune e la giustizia sociale.
Obiettivi formativi:
- Sviluppare conoscenze rispetto ad alcuni filoni di ricerca nazionale e internazionale sul tema dell’orientamento educativo e professionale.
- Sviluppare conoscenze rispetto ad alcune competenze trasversali legate al tema.
- Sviluppare competenze riflessive rispetto al proprio progetto di vita e in relazione all’orientamento educativo e professionale.
Testi di riferimento base:
Da Re, L. (2024) (a cura di). Orientamento educativo e professionale: teorie, pratiche e ricerche. Lecce: PensaMultimedia.

Riferimenti

1. Da Re, L., Echeverría, B., Martínez Clares, P., (2025). Orientamento Educativo e Professionale: prospettive internazionali e il caso italiano. Nuova secondaria, n. 6, anno XLII - ISSN 1828-4582, pp. 225-241.
2. Giraldo, A., Meggiolaro, S., Da Re, L., Bonelli, R., Michelotto, A. (2025). Orientamento e tutorato: le potenzialità di uno studio osservazionale prospettico sulla coorte 2022 dell’Università di Padova. Padova: Cleup. ISBN: 978 88 5495 423 6.
3. Da Re, L. (2024) (a cura di). Orientamento educativo e professionale: teorie, pratiche e ricerche. Lecce: PensaMultimedia.
4. Clerici, R., Da Re, L., Giraldo, A., Meggiolaro, S. (2019). La valutazione del Tutorato Formativo per gli studenti universitari: il processo, la soddisfazione, l’efficacia. Milano: Franco Angeli.
5. Da Re, L. (2017). Il tutor all’Università: Strategie educative per contrastare il drop-out e favorire il rendimento degli studenti. Lecce: Pensa Multimedia. ISBN 978-88-6760-493-7. ISSN 2420-904X.
   

Scienze Pedagogiche 

MODULO D - Contesti professionali, sviluppo di carriera e sviluppo organizzativo (Responsabili: Monica Fedeli e Concetta Tino)

Beato Pellegrino - Sala Multimediale/Riunioni

Abstract

Il workshop, di carattere attivo ed esperienziale - mira a stimolare una riflessione su come costruire una professionalità in ambito educativo e psico-sociale a partire dagli obiettivi dell’Agenda 2030.

Sarà adottata la metodologia LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY®, metodologia learning by playing di facilitazione e sviluppo organizzativo fondata sull'impiego dei mattoncini LEGO come supporto metaforico al confronto e ai processi decisionali, che fonda il suo valore nelle scienze costruttiviste e costruzioniste.

Il suo obiettivo è facilitare la collaborazione e stimolare nuove prospettive strategiche, aiutando i partecipanti a costruire insieme soluzioni innovative e a sviluppare una visione condivisa.

Riferimenti

• Chianese, G. Fantinelli, S. (2023). Learning out of the box using LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY®. QTimes, Anno XV - n. 2, 2023, pp. 1-10.
• Fantinelli, S., Chianese, G. (2022). When the game gets serious: Lego® Serious Play® at university, Nuova Secondaria, 2 (2022), XL, pp. 285-291.
• Guichard, J. (2015). From vocational guidance and career counseling to life design dialogues. In L. Nota & J. Rossier (Eds), Handbook of life design. From practice to theory and from theory to practice (pp. 11–25). Heidelberg, Germany: Hogrefe Publishing.
• Savickas, M. L., Nota, L., Rossier, J., Dauwalder, J. P., Duarte, M. E., Guichard, J., Soresi, S., Van Esbroeck, R. V., & van Vianen, A. E. M. (2009). Life designing: a paradigm for career construction in the 21st century. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 75, 239–250.
• Savickas, M. L. (2005). The theory and practice of career construction. In S. D. Brown & R. W. Lent (Eds.), Career development and counselling: Putting theory and research to work (pp. 42–70). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley

Lingua: italiano

Il workshop sarà svolto esclusivamente in presenza. Si prega di iscriversi entro il 29 Aprile al link https://forms.gle/5J1gz6tptaSYUvJF7

Per ulteriori info gchianese@units.it

The course aims to introduce doctoral students to the critical-emancipatory paradigm as an epistemic horizon with which to observe, interpret and understand educational phenomena. After describing the origin of the paradigm in the Frankfurt School, the main modern and contemporary authors belonging to the critical framework will be presented. An in-depth study of the contemporary Italian context will then be presented. Two tools belonging to this critical framework will be presented: the public sphere and the critical literacy workshop. A critical literacy workshop completes the course.

This is the conclusive workshop of the course

Italian version

Il corso vuole introdurre dottorande e dottorandi al paradigma critico-emancipativo come orizzonte epistemico con cui osservare, interpretare e comprendere i fenomeni educativi. Dopo aver descritto l'origine del paradigma nella scuola di Francoforte, si illustreranno i principali autori moderni e contemporanei appartenenti alla cornice critica sul piano internazionale. Verrà poi presentato un approfondimento sul contesto italiano contemporaneo. Si presenteranno alcuni strumenti legati al paradigma, tra cui la Public Sphere e la Critical Literacy workshop; un laboratorio di Critical Literacy completerà il corso.

Questo è il laboratorio conclusivo del corso

Scienze Pedagogiche 

MODULO C - Metodologia, strategie e strumenti della ricerca educativa (Responsabile: Juliana Elisa Raffaghelli, Michele Biasutti)

Beato Pellegrino - Sala Multimediale/Riunioni

Seminario - Online

Abstract

La Social Network Analysis (SNA) rappresenta uno strumento metodologico per indagare la complessità delle relazioni e delle interazioni nei contesti educativi. Attraverso un approccio integrato quantitativo e qualitativo, la SNA consente di analizzare sia la struttura delle reti, sia la qualità e il significato dei legami.
Nel seminario verranno presentati i fondamenti teorici e metodologici della SNA, mostrando come le metriche quantitative (centralità, densità, coesione) possano essere interpretate in dialogo con analisi qualitative delle pratiche interattive, dei discorsi e dei contesti culturali in cui le relazioni prendono forma. Saranno discussi esempi di ricerche empiriche che combinano la rappresentazione grafica delle reti con l’osservazione etnografica, al fine di comprendere i processi di partecipazione, collaborazione e inclusione nei gruppi di apprendimento.
L’obiettivo del seminario è mostrare come l’integrazione di strumenti quantitativi e qualitativi nell’ambito della SNA possa contribuire a una comprensione più profonda e sfaccettata delle dinamiche relazionali che sostengono i processi educativi.

Riferimenti

• Bembich C. (2019). Social Network Learning Analytics: identification of students at risk of early school leaving. Italian Journal of Educational Research, pp. 174-186. ISSN: (Online) 2038-9744 - (Paper) 2038-9736.
• Bembich C. (2020). La teoria ecologico-culturale. Processi, reti e transizioni per analizzare e intervenire nella dispersione scolastica, Pensa MultiMedia Editore. ISBN 978-88-6760-700-6.
• Bembich C. (2020). The contribution of Social Network Analysis in conceptualizing school failure: A methodological reflection on an exploratory inquiry. Italian Journal of Educational Research, pp. 206-222, ISSN: (Online) 2038-9744 - (Paper) 2038-9736.
• Bembich C. (2022). Developing inclusive learning communities through participation and relationship, Giornale Italiano di Educazione alla Salute, Sport e Didattica Inclusiva, V. 5, N. 4, ISSN: 2532-3296. 9
• Bembich C., Bologna V. (2025). Recognising patterns of authentic inquiry-based approach to foster children’s scientific reasoning process. Frontiers in Education. 10:1574267.doi:10.3389/feduc.2025.1574267
• Borgatti S.P., Everett M.G., Freeman L.C. (2002). Ucinet for Windows: Software for Social Network Analysis. Harvard, MA: Analytic Technologies.
• Borgatti S.P., Halgin D.S. (2011). On network theory’. Organization Science, 22 (5), 1168–81.
• Borgatti S.P., Mehra A., Brass D.J., Labianca G. (2009). Network analysis in the social sciences. Science, 323(5916), 892–895.
• Hawe, P., & Ghali, L. (2007). Use of social network analysis to map the social relationships of staff and teachers at school. Health education research, 23(1): 62-69.
• Mahoney, J. L. (2014). School extracurricular activity participation and early school dropout: A mixed-method study of the role of peer social networks. Journal of Educational and Developmental Psychology, 4(1): 143-154
• Sarazin, M. (2017). Can student interdependence be experienced negatively in collective music education programmes? A contextual approach. London Review of Education, 15: 488-504.

Scienze Pedagogiche 

MODULO A - Fondamenti della ricerca pedagogica e educativa  (Responsabili: Andrea Porcarelli e Sara Serbati)

Beato Pellegrino - Sala Riunioni/Multimediale

Abstract

Il lavoro di ricerca in pedagogia non può prescindere da una conoscenza della sua epistemologia di fondo. Questo comporta la capacità di agire con chiarezza entro i campi di analisi di questa disciplina, a partire da una conoscenza della sua dimensione pratico-prescrittiva e dai rapporti che essa intrattiene con altre discipline, affini o distanti.
Il seminario intende far riflettere i dottorandi sulla dimensione scientifica del sapere pedagogico, insistendo su quei fondamenti epistemologici che la rendono scienza umana e nello specifico scienza di progetto. Attraverso una presentazione di contenuti in maniera frontale e alcuni lavori di gruppo, Il seminario intende fornire una prima consapevolezza (teorica e pratica) della specificità della pedagogia dentro il panorama delle scienze dell’educazione.

Riferimenti

• Agostinetto L., Educare. Epistemologia pedagogica, logica formativa e pratia educativa, Pensa Multimedia, Lecce, 2013.
• Bertagna G., Modernità epistemologica della pedagogia generale e principi di pedagogia generale, in Minichiello G. (a cura di), L’epistemologia pedagogica. Stato dell’arte, Lecce, Pensa Multimedia, 2006.
• Crispoldi S., Strumenti di ricerca per l’educatore sociale, Perugia, Morlacchi Editore, 2008. Dalle Fratte G. (a cura di), Teoria e modello in pedagogia, Roma, Amando, 1986.
• Dalle Fratte G., Questioni di epistemologia pedagogica e filosofia dell’educazione. Per una riscoperta del senso dell’agire educativo, Roma, Armando, 2004.
• Madriz E., Prendere forma per dare forma. L'azione educativa professionale, Armando, Roma, 2011.
• Pellerey M., Educare. Manuale di pedagogia come scienza pratico-progettuale, Roma, Las, 1999.
• Santoianni F., La fenice pedagogica. Linee di ricerca epistemologica, Napoli, Liguori Editore, 2007.
• Scaglioso C., Azione educativa e pedagogia come scienza pratica, in Dalle Fratte G. (a cura di), L’agire educativo. Ragioni contesti teorie, Roma, Armando, 1995.