Pandemic and Self-Representation. Boys and Girls Describe their Reality through Digital Images

The unexpected impact of the Coronavirus and the drastic changes forced all teachers/educators and students participating in "Inclusione Minori CPIA and PAS CPIA" and "PAS Tutela Integrata" projects to adapt to the new emergency situation and to find a new way of teaching and learning. The projects promoted by the Fondazione per la scuola di Torino aim to lower school drop-outs and to welcome Italian and foreign underage students offering the opportunity to learn the Italian language and/or to obtain a first degree in secondary schools. The research group collected multimedia material related to the self- representation of the students before and after the Coronavirus. To better understand the feelings and the perception of the difficult period during the first lockdown, online questionnaires were given and focus groups were organized for teachers/educators, children and family members for a total of approximately 83 people. Specifically, we asked teachers/educators and students to describe their experience during the first lockdown through the use of images or videos. In the field of visual sociology, multimedia materials help us describe a social and subjective reality. Photos and videos were vehicles of expression and communication despite the distance, promoting an exchange between formal and informal school assignments. Photos collected before the epidemic show passions, hobbies, famous people, activities, landscapes and animals as a way to describe their character traits. Photos related to the lockdown are different: they show deserted landscapes, people who cannot see each other, suspended daily activities or new occupations. From the perspective of soft skills, the search for multimedia material has been an attractive stimulus for students, allowing them to express aspects of themselves that sometimes remain hidden or not verbalized and to take on the role of protagonists within the assigned task.