Is there leeway for Italian policy learning from advanced experiences in home language education? A comparative case study of Austria, Sweden and Italy

Abstract

Notwithstanding the linguistic hyperdiversity that characterizes most European countries and the evidence that points to the value of migrant languages as resources for host societies, home language (HL) education is taken seriously and developed only in a few countries in Europe. The article aims to identify the policy design and implementation elements that can lead to effective HL teaching as well as the contextual and institutional premises that can facilitate or hamper processes of policy learning flowing from advanced HL education experiences (in this study, Austria and Sweden) to prospective policy learners (i.e., in this article, Italy). It does so in light of the lesson-drawing theorization of policy learning. The research design involves a comparison of three country cases, selected on the basis of their respective approaches to HL teaching. This comparison develops in terms of both contextual features and HL teaching policy characteristics, based on data collected from official reports. The research results are then discussed in light of the literature and indicate several lessons to be learned while at the same time pointing to the existence of many facilitators and a few obstacles to the activation of policy learning dynamics, and puts forwards a few ideas for both education policymakers and policy deliverers.