Con Amore: Exploring How Italian School Leaders and Teachers Accommodate Immigrant Students

Abstract

In this study, I explored the perception of school leaders and teachers in a rural middle school in Southern Italy. For my conceptual framework, I pulled on three bodies of scholarship: intercultural education, the overall importance of school leaders, and teachers' attitudes towards immigrant students. I conducted a basic qualitative study using interviews, documents, and field notes as part of my data collection. I was interested in how school leaders and teachers attended to the increase of immigrant students in Italy. This study aimed at answering two significant questions. First, how did school leaders attend to the increase in immigrant students in a rural middle school in Southern Italy? The second question focused on the perceptions of Italian teachers in a rural middle school in Southern Italy on how they supported immigrant students.My findings highlighted how school leaders and teachers attempted to bring an inclusive approach within their middle school. They created an inclusion project as part of the schools' vision, which reflected intercultural education practices. In my findings, I displayed several components that positively contributed to immigrant students' overall experience. I also highlighted factors that hindered the school leaders' and teachers' vision for inclusion. This work contributes to the limited research on immigrant students in Southern Italy.