Migrant youth's experiences and educational narratives in Italian society

The type of transition across cultural (school-peers-family) contexts performed by "migrant" students is being given limited attention by educational institutions. The research addresses this issue; it is based upon data gathered in the Emilia Romagna region through focus groups involving, on the one hand, intercultural education trainers and secondary school students and, on the other hand, semi-structured interviews with "second generation" migrant trainers who run intercultural educational workshops in local secondary schools. Because the research was aimed at self-narratives and the assessment of educational choices, results provide both a rationale and concrete examples of "second generation" migrant trainers' educational approaches focusing on intercultural and citizenship education in both formal and non-formal educational settings. While secondary schools are facing significant discrimination attitudes, they are providing insufficient opportunities to young people of foreign origin to voice their transition strategies leaving a key role to youth groups and associations in elaborating transition strategies and in shaping and voicing young people needs and abilities for participation in social life.