School-Family Co-Responsibility. Good practice from training course promoted by an association of adoptive families

In Italy, the “Guidelines for adopted students’ right to study” (2014) focus on the needs of adoptees in school and education. Unfortunately, this tool has not yet received widespread and homogeneous application throughout the country. School placement, inclusion and the process of transition between the various levels and grades of schools, represent particularly delicate issues which require adequate support from all those involved in education (Guerrieri and Nobile, 2016). The entire process should aim to build helpful communication channels and liaison between parents and school staff in order to encourage children and teenagers to acquire a clear perception of self and promote inclusive attitudes among class members. This contribution aims to examine the issues related to the joint responsibilities of school and family (Pati, 2019), based on the experience of an adoptive families’ asso-ciation named AFAIV APS, that is active in promoting knowledge of adoption issues in schools through training courses held in the province of Varese. We will focus on the presentation of good practices emerging from cycles of thematic meetings for adoptive parents and from training courses addressed to teachers and educators. These initiatives are devised for the purpose of increasing understanding of adoption issues, raising awareness about the needs of students who have been adopted and en-couraging the discovery of tools able to be adapted to individual requirements. The complexity of adoption raises questions related to educational issues. Adoption requires unprecedented skills in understanding cultures (Favaro, 2010), on the horizon of an educating community called to build good relationships and cooperative networks between school and family. From a pedagogical perspective, we aim to try to highlight some useful dimensions for the development of family resilience (Walsh, 2008) and empowerment (Bacharach, 1993).