In the debate about the Ministry’s change of name, it has been taken for granted that merit refers to the pupils. From the considerations explored in this editorial, it seems clear that the possibility of developing talent does not depend solely on commitment and individual responsibility but is also substantially attributable to the family and social contexts where individuals grow up, along with the school environments experienced.
For this reason, it could be interesting to talk about merit with a change of perspective: «If
we talk about a Ministry of Education and Merit - Scalfi suggests - would it not also be important
to apply the concept of merit to those providing schooling (the teachers), managing
it or who have responsibility for its organisation and policy (the directors and managers of the
Ministry, also at regional level)? Or do we really think that merit should only apply to the last link
in the chain (the pupils), who often suffer from the inability of others?».
In this case, talking about merit would concern the quality of the school system.
Asking ourselves what kind of schools our pupils deserve is an interesting perspective from which to consider merit. It is a question that should be kept open, so that responsibility is not always ‘offloaded’ to pupils, also when there are other causes.
These and other important observations and considerations are contained in this volume of RicercaAzione, both in the "Research" section, full of important contributions, and in the varied section "Experiences and reflections", in addition to the stimulating comments in the "Reviews" section.
