The Digitisation of Italian Schools and the Pandemic Trigger: Actors and Policies in an Evolving Organisational Field

Abstract

This article analyses the ongoing processes in the organisational field of Italian schools in light of the innovations induced by digital education policies. Specifically, it focuses on the relationship between actors and digital policies concerning the experience of distance learning (DL) that characterised the period of the COVID-19 pandemic. The paper reflects on DL outcomes regarding the three expectations that have often characterised the rhetoric associated with the promotion of digital educational policies, namely: the raising of learning levels, the development of digital competences and the increase in school inclusion. Through an analysis of a series of empirical studies exploring the point of view of the paper, this paper highlights what progress has been made in the digital schooling in Italy and what are still its main limitations. The results of the study show both the limits of the effectiveness of educational policies constructed with a top-down approach and highlight the potential for policy recalibration offered by a reorganisation of the decision-making process through the active involvement of all the actors in the educational system.