Inspired by ‘The Polish Peasant’. Autobiographies of Successful Students with an Immigrant Background

Q3 Social Sciences

Italian Sociological Review Pub Date : 2020-07-01 DOI:10.13136/ISR.V10I2S.358

M. Santagati

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引用次数: 1

Abstract

The article illustrates the method of the Su.Per. project ( Success in educational pathways of students with immigrant background), based on autobiographies of successful students with an immigrant background, attending upper secondary education in Northern Italy. The methodological choice of the project is inspired by ‘The Polish Peasant’ by Thomas and Znaniecki and highlights the importance of using the biographical approach to understand unexpected and atypical situations – such as success stories of vulnerable students. Within this approach, autobiography represents a reflexive and imaginative ‘exercise’ to observe, in a non-prescriptive manner, the intertwining between actor and structure, human creativity and tradition, innovation and conservation, predestined and unexpected paths. Finally, the fruitfulness of this method is shown presenting some results deriving from the Su.Per. project. Writing their ‘educational autobiographies’, disadvantaged students build plural narrative of success – oriented to performance, good relationships, cooperation, etc. –, in which it is possible to discover new horizons and meanings of the success, and (perhaps) a renewed role for social scientists in analysing and imagining a less unequal future.

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灵感来自《波兰农民》。具有移民背景的成功学生自传

本文以移民背景的成功学生在意大利北部接受高中教育的自传为基础，阐述了Su.Per项目（移民背景学生的教育途径成功）的方法。该项目的方法选择受到Thomas和Znaniecki的《波兰农民》的启发，并强调了使用传记方法来理解意外和非典型情况的重要性，例如弱势学生的成功故事。在这种方法中，自传代表了一种反射性和想象力的“练习”，以非规定的方式观察行动者与结构、人类创造力与传统、创新与保护、预定和意外路径之间的交织。最后，通过Su.Per项目的一些结果，说明了该方法的有效性。弱势学生在撰写“教育自传”时，构建了多元的成功叙事——以表现、良好关系、合作等为导向——在其中，他们有可能发现成功的新视野和意义，（也许）社会科学家在分析和想象一个不那么不平等的未来方面发挥新的作用。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Italian Sociological Review Social Sciences-Social Sciences (all)

CiteScore

1.50

自引率

0.00%

发文量

审稿时长

8 weeks

期刊介绍： The Italian Sociological Review is as an academic journal for the dissemination of theoretical reflections and results of empirical research on social science, conducted with scientific methodologies and made available to a wider audience. The research results may have an impact on policy-makers, on the processes of formation of the students and the development and integration of theories and paradigms. It is therefore important that the journal maintains a high level of quality and transparency in the process of publication.