School-work for teenagers

“Scuola Bottega” is a historic school-work programme for the recovery of the middle school certificate, started 16 years ago in Milan by the La Strada Cooperative and now financed by Specchio d’Italia. The goal of the project is to recover girls and boys at high risk of early school leaving, counteracting school abandonment and accompanying young people to the completion of their middle school education. The didactic path lasts one year and includes experiences of approach to the world of work and workshops, such as that of baking.

15 pupils between the ages of 14 and 17 are involved, who attend the cooperative’s headquarters throughout the year and are indicated by local schools, where they remain enrolled.

The class group is therefore not homogeneous in terms of age and personal paths, but shares the same strong motivations and the final goal: the individual stories and different basic skills converge in common experiences, in everyday life always oriented towards sharing and respect, in an active learning mode that everyone acquires starting from their own experience.

In this continuous “dialogue” between the size of the class group and the individual path (which each person checks at their own school), the tutor, the teachers, even the employers met in the internships are the adult figures able to teach skills and guide young people to help them become honest and responsible citizens.