Small schools: Rethinking the forme scolaire for an educational compact that extends to the community and the territory

Abstract

Small schools are at the center of the crises that have affected the territories of inland areas and beyond, which have been exacerbated in the last two years in their effects by the COVID-19 pandemic. After returning to the socio-territorial scenario in which small schools operate, this research contribution questions the role they are called to play in the light of the reflections on the change in school forms: we pass from a dominant educational model to a community school. The contribution presents the main theoretical constructs of the school of community and the most significant governance tools, borrowed from national and international experiences. The contribution takes into consideration the concrete actions that small Italian schools carry out together with local actors, through the analysis of community educational pacts. Finally, the analysis proposes an initial systematization of projects in order to identify those experiences oriented towards the development of extensive educational systems capable of innovating the alliance between school and territory.

Keywords

• Small schools
• School form
• Community school
• Territorial alliance