LEVEL 2. EXPLORE BEST PRACTICE

Introduction

The IDENTITIES project tracked 1,555 adolescents (20.2% foreign-origin) across 20 schools in Emilia-Romagna, Italy, over two years and seven waves. It found identity commitment is the strongest protective factor for adolescent well-being, that teacher equity and school diversity norms are modifiable and affect prejudice, and that adolescents hold more pro-inclusive attitudes than national policy benchmarks.

The Challenge

What social issue does it address?

Italy's secondary schools are rapidly diversifying, yet educational policy remains concentrated on administrative registration rather than the relational and pedagogical conditions needed for intercultural coexistence. Foreign-origin adolescents face compounded developmental and acculturative demands, and report lower well-being than Italian-origin peers.

Why is it important?

Fragmented diversity management leaves schools without evidence on how identity, intergroup contact and prejudice actually develop over time, hindering the design of effective, targeted intercultural policies.

How does it contribute to the BRIDGE Challenge?

The project supplies longitudinal, granular evidence on how school norms, teacher behaviour and intergroup contact shape identity and prejudice — the kind of evidence fragmented diversity management currently lacks.

How does it work?

Over two years and seven waves, adolescents, parents, teachers and principals completed validated questionnaires; adolescents also wore actigraphy devices. Each participant received personalised feedback, and schools received aggregated results reports.

What might inspire you?

Ideas for adaptation

1. Combine self-report surveys with objective actigraphy sleep data.
2. Track the same students across seven waves over two years.
3. Collect data from students, parents, teachers and principals.
4. Give every participant a personalised feedback report.
5. Share annual aggregated results reports with each participating school.
6. Engage municipal councillors to link research to local policy.
7. Compare adolescents' and adults' attitudes on integration policy.
8. Disaggregate findings by gender and ethnic background together.
9. Base school interventions on longitudinal identity-well-being evidence.
10. Make the validated questionnaire battery available for reuse elsewhere.

Resources created