Formazione e professionalità docente nella Scuola in Ospedale: pratiche, competenze e prospettive di sviluppo
Doctoral Dissertation
Publication Date:
2026
abstract:
This study explores Hospital Schooling (Scuola in Ospedale, SIO) as a complex educational environment in which pedagogical, instructional, linguistic, communicative, and healthcare dimensions intersect, shaping an ecosystem where teaching assumes both a mediating and care-related function. The aim is to investigate the training and professional profile of hospital teachers in order to identify competencies and strategies that support learning in conditions of vulnerability and promote inclusive educational practices.
The theoretical framework is grounded in reflective professionalism, educational mediation, interpersonal and intercultural communication, and inclusive pedagogy, conceptualizing the hospital teacher as a professional capable of integrating instructional, relational, and communicative competencies within an interdisciplinary perspective.
The study adopts a mixed-methods approach, combining quantitative and qualitative tools. The empirical corpus includes questionnaires administered to 176 Italian teachers, 46 Spanish teachers, 48 parents, and 31 hospitalized students, six focus groups with 24 teachers, and eight individual interviews with hospitalized children at the Microcitemico Hospital in Cagliari. In addition, 12 hours of audio recordings of classroom interactions in the hospital setting were collected, focusing on one-to-one lessons with Italian and non-Italian speaking students aged 6 to 16, conducted by primary and lower secondary school teachers. The interactions were transcribed using ELAN according to Jeffersonian conventions and analyzed through Conversation Analysis.
Data triangulation highlights the central role of the educational relationship as a key mechanism for both learning and care, and reveals a lack of structured and specific training pathways for hospital teachers. In response, the study proposes an integrated training model based on continuous professional development and inspired by the principles of Universal Design for Learning and communities of practice.
The theoretical framework is grounded in reflective professionalism, educational mediation, interpersonal and intercultural communication, and inclusive pedagogy, conceptualizing the hospital teacher as a professional capable of integrating instructional, relational, and communicative competencies within an interdisciplinary perspective.
The study adopts a mixed-methods approach, combining quantitative and qualitative tools. The empirical corpus includes questionnaires administered to 176 Italian teachers, 46 Spanish teachers, 48 parents, and 31 hospitalized students, six focus groups with 24 teachers, and eight individual interviews with hospitalized children at the Microcitemico Hospital in Cagliari. In addition, 12 hours of audio recordings of classroom interactions in the hospital setting were collected, focusing on one-to-one lessons with Italian and non-Italian speaking students aged 6 to 16, conducted by primary and lower secondary school teachers. The interactions were transcribed using ELAN according to Jeffersonian conventions and analyzed through Conversation Analysis.
Data triangulation highlights the central role of the educational relationship as a key mechanism for both learning and care, and reveals a lack of structured and specific training pathways for hospital teachers. In response, the study proposes an integrated training model based on continuous professional development and inspired by the principles of Universal Design for Learning and communities of practice.
Iris type:
5.13 Tesi di dottorato
Keywords:
Scuola in ospedale, Docente ospedaliero, Formazione degli insegnanti, Didattica inclusiva, Relazione educativa, Comunicazione interculturale, Analisi della conversazione, Interazioni didattiche, Mixed method, Universal Design for Learning
List of contributors: