Giulia Chiara Ceresa

PhD thesis: Geographies of Alternative Education in Italy

I am a PhD Student in Human Geography with the School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Birmingham. Through participatory research which makes use of qualitative methods, I am investigating the social and spatial processes which distinguish Northern Italy’s public schools with alternative experimentation. I have always believed research and teaching to be birds of a feather. I also work part-time as a teacher in a middle school and my second research project explores creative methods of teaching Geography, with a particular focus on Outdoor Education and Edularp (Educational Live Action Role Game Playing). In 2019, I joined the Geographies of Children, Youth & Families Research Group (GCYFRG) at the Royal Geographical Society as a Postgraduate Fellow.

The Geographies of Alternative Education in Italy research project has two main objectives. The first is to investigate the decision-making processes which lead some parents to choose an alternative school over a traditional school. The second is to observe and understand children’s social and spatial experiences at three alternative experimentation schools within the Italian state school system: Montessori experimentation, Senza Zaino (No Schoolbag) experimentation, and outdoor school experimentation. It’s important to study these practices of alternative education within the state system because they are truly innovative and subject to constant change. Various studies have been conducted on purely alternative schools (Steiner and Montessori schools, forest schools, home-schooling, parental schools, etc.), however there is no existing analysis of these educational practices emerging within public schools, and the phenomenon is now spreading across much of Europe. My field research involves the study of the materialities, interpersonal relations, habits, practices and policies which dictate the day-to-day goings on of the schools in question. This includes observing and listening to the opinions and thoughts of the students, parents, teachers and head teachers through a series of one-to-one interviews, with the aim of exploring some of the ways in which social and spatial processes are co-implicated in the establishment of alternative approaches.

• The School of My Dreams: an in-depth interview composed of open questions for around 40 parents who chose alternative schools or state schools with alternative experimentation for their children.

• All About your School: a programme for children from the ages of 6 to 10 which involves direct observation and interviews regarding their educational experiences in a school with alternative experimentation.

• What’s Education for: interviews with key adults who work as teachers and school directors in schools with alternative experimentation.