Conference Agenda

The diagnosis or needs investigation phase – in which students, teachers and community co-construct a critical reading of the context on which the service action is grounded – represents a crucial juncture in Service Learning (SL) pathways, yet remains among the least documented in research literature, particularly with reference to primary and secondary schooling. This contribution analyses this phase across the full vertical curriculum of the Italian school system, examining to what extent and through what practices schools are already developing the civic agency competences that university-level SL presupposes and seeks to consolidate.

The contribution is positioned within TrackA – Didactical Methods for Effective Democracy Education –. The perspective adopted is that of educational continuity: civic agency is progressively built through prior formative experiences, and the quality of university-level SL depends significantly on students' capacity to analyse real-world problems and co-design with community partners. Examining how schools structure the diagnosis phase means examining the starting conditions with which students enter higher education SL, and the responsibilities that universities are called upon to assume in continuity with the preceding pathway.

The study draws on a quantitative survey conducted by INDIRE within the Avanguardie Educative movement, Italy's largest school innovation network. A structured questionnaire was administered to 453 SL referent teachers across 645 network schools, yielding 176 responses from 108 institutions covering the full vertical curriculum: early childhood (13%), primary (40%), lower secondary (20%) and upper secondary (27%). Items captured the structuring of the diagnosis phase, the role assigned to students, teaching strategies, community partner involvement, and documentation and assessment practices.

Findings reveal a widespread orientation towards student agency: 71% of teachers involve students from the outset of the diagnosis phase, rising to 85% at upper secondary level. The teacher's role as co-explorer or facilitator is more prevalent at this level (42% vs. 33% overall), as is early community partner involvement (52% vs. 45%) and systematic documentation (88% vs. 75%). Structural weaknesses persist across all levels: 72% of teachers operate without a shared institutional framework, and a significant proportion do not assess learning developed in this phase, a limitation that research identifies as an obstacle to sustainability. Students entering university thus bring a civic agency that has been practised but is rarely formalised or evaluated. Recognising and building upon this formative capital – deepening what schools have already initiated – represents both a challenge and a concrete opportunity for university SL pathways oriented towards democratic competence development.