The Diverse Nuances of Learning. Multiple Facets of Peer Education in a Case Study in Northern Italy

Peer-led approaches emphasize learner autonomy by affirming that the process of knowledge and skills acquisition does not correspond to a passive intake of information, but that understanding must be actively constructed in collaboration. Accordingly, learning is configured as a situated, active, and creative process. The introduction of peer-learning in the Italian education system is progressing very slowly, despite a continuing academic interest in the potential of the didactic method as an innovative asset in a structured school organization with prevailing standardized procedures. Drawing on these premises, this contribution aims to present the experience related to the application of particular forms of peer-led approaches. Specifically, the authors have been analysing peer-to-peer and peer-for-peer practices carried out as part of a pilot phase within the EU-funded Horizon project entitled ‘KIDS4ALLL’. The analysis of this study is grounded on qualitative data from students, teachers and educators who have been testing the proposed peer-led learning method in non-formal educational contexts in Turin and Padua. Major findings suggest that learning with new methodologies which put the learner at the centre of the process, may potentially respond to contemporary challenges of non-formal educational settings, if continuously adopted and accompanied by trained educational staff. Instead, intermittent and random interventions for the sake of forced didactic innovation in the classroom might entail unexpected effects on the development of competences for students and educational staff.