School closure and learning experience in Italy. Giving voice to students, families, and teachers during the Covid-19 pandemic

School closure was one of the most common measures adopted all over the world in order to prevent and limit the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic. Although this solution appeared inevitable, many studies begun to investigate the indirect effects of this measure on students’ learning and health. Focusing on compulsory education, the article analyses the learning experiences which emerged as a consequence of school closure, in one of the areas most affected by the virus in Europe (Northern Italy) and also in the first Western country to close all educational institutions nationwide. 600 WhatsApp voice messages recorded by teachers, families, and students were collected between 2020 and 2021: these qualitative data allowed us to sketch a picture giving voice to the most important social actors involved. The analysis of their narratives highlighted both the negative and positive impact of «an unexpected holiday» among a diverse group of students and families, producing a deeper understanding of school dynamics and teachers’ work, put to the test by the pandemic. The first-hand collection of accounts of those who experienced school closure suggests new scenarios of de-structuration of the educational experience, intertwined with pre-existent trends connected to school digitalisation and the reproduction of inequalities.