The measurement approach

The Commission’s work was guided by a multidimensional approach centred on the broadest meaning of the word ‘education’, broadening the scope to encompass a variety of aspects that go beyond the failure to achieve school educational objectives, as is the case with the Anglo-Saxon approach to measuring educational poverty.

An adequate/minimum level of social inclusion in the various spheres of life requires, in fact, not only knowledge, skills and subject-specific learning (instruction), but also the ability to relate to others and to society (education), as well as behaviours, habits and attitudes geared towards socially shared goals (formation).

Nonostante il tema sia rilevante per ogni età della vita, la Commissione ha dedicato la sua attenzione alle fasi dell’infanzia e dell’adolescenza (0-19 anni), nelle quali gli individui costruiscono gran parte del proprio capitale umano e sociale.

The definition

The Commission has defined educational poverty as a complex, multidimensional phenomenon – resulting from the family and social context in which children and young people live – distinguishing between resource poverty and outcome poverty:

• resource poverty: a condition arising from a lack of educational and cultural resources within the wider community (family, school, places of learning and socialising, living environments) or from limited opportunities to gain experiences conducive to personal growth that such resources offer;
• outcome poverty: the failure to acquire the personal, social and cognitive skills necessary for personal growth and the development of relationships with others, for cultivating one’s talents and realising one’s aspirations, and, at a collective level, for feeling part of a community, for consciously exercising the right to active citizenship and for contributing positively to the Country’s well-being.

Children and young people growing up in contexts deprived of resources and of educational and cultural opportunities are considered to be at risk of educational poverty.

Children and young people are considered to be in a state of educational poverty if, with specific reference to their age group and the outcomes achieved, they have not attained the level of education and skills necessary to avoid forms of social exclusion in various areas of life.

With this definition, the Commission distinguishes between educational poverty, which manifests itself at an individual level in terms of outcomes, and the risk of educational poverty linked to a lack of resources and opportunities, which may contribute (hence the term ‘risk’) to creating social and geographical contexts or individual situations in which the right to full development may be compromised.

The conceptual framework

In light of the definition adopted, the Commission has developed a conceptual framework  divided into two domains: Resources and Outcomes, which are in turn divided into 5 dimensions and 14 sub-dimensions.