Hospital School Programs Foster Multicultural Education and Inclusion
A substantial audience of school operators attended the conference “School in Hospital: Experiences and Perspectives in a Multicultural Context,” held yesterday afternoon at the Bachelet Hall of the Hospital. Organized by the chief of the pediatrics division, Doctor Zanini, it marked a moment of discussion among educational institutions, healthcare providers, and local administration.
The experience of school in hospitals began ten years ago, when it was established by the superintendent’s office at the request of Zanini, with the dual purpose of alleviating the impact of hospitalization on young patients and ensuring continuity of learning.
Considering that today more than a quarter of hospitalized patients are from non-EU countries, it is evident that issues related to teaching in such a unique environment are secondary to concerns about welcoming and intercultural encounters, as highlighted by Professor Medeghini from the University of Bergamo.
Valuing Multiculturalism and Educational Activities
Domenico Conciatori, current teacher at the pediatric division school, emphasized: “The new programs speak of enhancing differences. This means designing a multicultural project that has enriched the school library, which contains 230 volumes, including texts in different languages, stories from various ethnic traditions, and a celebration to learn about different customs related to Children’s Day.”
Licia Magnani, from the provincial school office, the former superintendent’s office, recalled that to address the multicultural reality, greater investments are planned where the proportion of foreign pupils exceeds 10% of the school population, and it is essential to guarantee the presence of cultural mediators in all schools, which is even more important than linguistic mediators.
“Language learning — said Professor Marocchi — is not the main issue: children, as we know, learn quickly. The more challenging aspect is coexisting with cultures that have different value systems. Today, Italian schools are moving away from the old model of assimilation and integration and, following the lead of European countries that faced this issue earlier, are heading toward recognizing and valuing the culture of origin.”
Supporting New Generations and Cultural Integration
Erminia Biaggi, Social Policies Councillor, summarized the activities carried out by the administration to support foreigners, highlighting the collaboration with Equatore, an association formed by Italians and foreigners, established in Castiglione to promote and facilitate the integration of resident foreigners in the territory.
Professor Baronio pointed out that at the Istituto Comprensivo 1, there is a nursery school where the presence of foreign children reaches 50%, while on average, the presence of foreigners in the primary and middle schools ranges between 20% and 25%.