TASC

The TASC project (Teachers And Students Improving School Climate Together) is a European project in line with the indications of the Provincial Strategic Plan with regard to the development of students' identity in relation to the territory they belong to, and the development of transversal competences with a view to greater civic-mindedness and citizenship.

The project involves educational and training institutions from three European countries (Italy, Spain, Lithuania) and Turkey and envisages the carrying out of professional development and experimentation activities aimed at school managers and teachers, the development of didactic tools for students, and the preparation of formative assessment systems for non-cognitive and transversal skills. At the end of the course, a final manual will be produced with operational guidelines for schools and education systems.

The aim of the project is to enhance students' wellbeing at school and in the classroom, their civic sense and social involvement in their home areas, in order to reduce the risk of experiencing situations of discomfort and educational failure, through the development of their non-cognitive and transversal skills.

In recent decades, an interdisciplinary debate has developed on the possibility of considering types of individual characteristics, in addition to the traditional 'academic' and cognitive ones, to explain educational success and, more generally, the acquisition of the status of adult citizen, responsible and active participant in everyday life.

Currently, the focus is on so-called 'non-cognitive skills'. To date, there is no unambiguous definition of these competences, but generally the areas referred to, in the individual sphere, are emotional, psycho-social and personality characteristics. These competences are considered strategic, from a developmental perspective, for subsequent career paths (educational and occupational), and for an adequate life experience as a 'well-rounded' citizen.

Non-cognitive skills can be considered at the same time as individual resources (and therefore "performative", which serve to achieve objectives, for our students, at school and in learning activities), social, relational (the classroom for the student, or the peer group outside school), and institutional (the school, the networks of schools and all the other subjects that can contribute to their development in individual students, and which make an entire area resilient). They can be educated and strengthened especially during the school experience of children, strongly influenced and anchored to contexts, especially considering the levels of psychological climate that these contexts are able to express. When contexts are put at risk, as in the case of lockdowns, they require an additional investment in terms of 'social presence' on the part of teachers and students.

The TASC project considers the classroom climate to be a fundamental element in the quality of teaching and the learning process at school. The school climate is influenced by the events that mark the history of the class, the relationships between each other (between students, between students and teachers), the personal development of students and the characteristics of the class group. It in turn influences the overall success of students, their personal development, their motivation to learn and their self-image, as well as the quality of the teacher's work. Commonly defined as a participative phenomenon, the classroom climate is also shaped by the methods of classroom management, the rules given, the organisation of the classroom and the school culture; in other words, it is the result of a co-operative and co-constructive process in which all those involved play an active role, both on a conscious and unconscious level. This perspective is in line with social constructivism, the learning theory that emphasises the significance of social interactions and the role of culture in the creation of knowledge, and which represents - together with other theoretical perspectives such as post-modernism, the complex systems approach, post-structuralism, the narrative perspective and the solution-focused approach - the epistemological reference framework within which to place the tools developed within the TASC project. On this theoretical basis, the TASC project identified the TASC C.L.A.S.S. curriculum for classroom climate management, i.e. a set of activities and practices for the development of non-cognitive skills considered important for facilitating the improvement of the school climate.

Activities aimed at teachers and school leaders in secondary and upper secondary schools

Training for teachers and school leaders in which the training and professional development activities, supported by a dedicated platform for immediate practical application in the classroom, focus on practices and possible educational and teaching strategies that teachers can develop and apply for the management of the classroom climate, the development of their students' non-cognitive skills and the related enhancement of educational success.

Activities aimed at students and teachers (of all subjects) of lower and upper secondary schools

Students, with the mediation of the teachers, will be provided with a "toolbox", with a set of practices and strategies to deal with problematic situations in the classroom and to promote a positive climate among classmates and with teachers; these practices and strategies can then also be applied in situations outside the classroom (family, peer group, neighbourhood, etc.), to enhance the effects on civic behaviour and active citizenship.