Challenges of Onlife Education Between the Third Sector and Schools
Martina Crescenti, Martina Lippolis, Benedetta Turco
The article analyses the criticalities and potentials of a multicultural after-school service (DAD) for children, aged between 8 and 13 and with a migration background, organized by a non-profit organisation in the online mode during the pandemic in 2020-2021 and in the onlife mode in 2024, from the perspectives of volunteer educators and activity coordinators. The relationship between the organisation and the educational institutions from which the different children came with respect to the after-school activity was also analysed. During the pandemic, the non-profit sector was a promoter in terms of action and support in structuring activities aimed at socio-psychological and educational assistance. The exploratory and comparative research is based on data collected through a questionnaire addressed to DAD volunteers (2021) and through 4 semi-structured interviews with coordinators during and after the pandemic (2024). The research results show the potential of the Third sector in the construction of onlife education spaces, characterised by informality, immediacy and bureaucratic simplification in the relationship with families and schools, despite the limited economic resources they often have. A central element that emerged is the need for recognition for the activities carried out by the educating community, first and foremost the school.
Keywords
Onlife education, Third sector, afterschool, inclusion, pandemic.
