L'integrazione dei bambini stranieri mediante la scuola: elementi per una nuova proposta teorico-metodologica e prime risultanze empiriche

The central topic of this paper is the role of the elementary school in the process of integration of the children of immigrants. The paper presents: a) the sociological approach through which A. Wimmer has profoundly changed the debate on integration; b) the main results of some empirical studies that have attempted to measure the ability of integration of the elementary school using the network analysis’ approach; c) the methodology of our empirical research, which was aimed to investigate some of the characteristics of ties experienced in and out the class by the students attending the class V of the elementary schools of the Province of Trento, in classes composed for 25% or more of students with non-Italian citizenship; d) the main findings of the survey and some conclusions that confirm the validity of the approach used.