A DisCrit-Informed Person-Centered Approach to Inclusive Education in Italy

ABSTRACT In this article, we present DisCrit-informed person-centered strategies to reframe inclusive education in Italy through an equity lens. Our aim is to provide teachers in mainstream primary schools with practices that inform the design and implementation of Individualized Education Programs and Piano Didattico Personalizzato (Personalized Didactic Plans) through nondeficit, intersectional, and culturally relevant approaches. Drawing on an initial pilot case study carried out in a school in Rome, Italy, we analyze the challenges that teachers face in including students at the intersections of race, ability, language, and citizenship. In doing so, we intend to advance critical thinking about the use of inclusive tools, and the importance of reframing them through the DisCrit framework. Finally, we suggest that some of the existing inclusive practices exacerbate the exclusion of migrant students with and without disabilities, despite promises of equality for all students.