This research analyzes how state high schools in Friuli Venezia Giulia implement the educational policies promoted by the State and the Region to enhance the multilingualism that characterizes the region, not only with regard to protected historical linguistic minorities, but also and above all with regard to the adaptation of the school curriculum. This research offers a critical contribution to the literature on educational policy implementation, proposing an interpretative model that explains school inertia through decoupling logics and the structural weakness of the National Evaluation System (SNV). Practical implications highlight the need for tighter constraints between self-evaluation (RAV) and resource allocation, for policy-related teacher reward/punishment mechanisms, and for the mandatory inclusion of multilingualism in improvement objectives. The study also proposes a replicable model of comparative document analysis applied to schools and the National Evaluation System, providing a methodological framework for investigating policy implementation in decentralized educational organizations. Through a theoretical perspective that combines institutional decoupling (Meyer & Rowan, 1977), the weak-ties nature of school organizations (Weick, 1976), and the professional bureaucracy model (Mintzberg, 1983), the research aims to demonstrate how, in several cases, schools appear to adopt a symbolic-bureaucratic approach to policies, limiting themselves to formal requirements without translating them into substantive teaching practices. The comparative document analysis reveals three key dynamics: 1. Poor accountability: the lack of sanctions for failure to achieve multilingualism-related objectives encourages superficial self-assessment in the RAV and ineffective improvement plans. 2. Policy Isolation: Multilingual initiatives are often relegated to marginal projects, not integrated into the curriculum, reflecting the ability of schools to absorb innovations without changing their functioning (Weick, 1976). 3. Resource-Objective Misalignment: The Annual Program and Supplementary Contracts rarely provide funding or incentives to translate policies into concrete actions (Mintzberg, 1983). The study also compares state high schools in border areas with the Republic of Slovenia with state high schools in inland areas, as well as state high schools in contexts with historical linguistic minorities (Friulian and Slovenian), to verify whether the particular geographic location and sociolinguistic configuration correlate with more authentic policy adherence. The geographic and sociolinguistic categories reflect national and regional legislation (Law 482/1999 and the Friuli Venezia Giulia Statute), which recognizes both border (Slovenian) and non-border (Friulian) minorities. The findings suggest that, even in these settings, the dominant approach remains formal, albeit with sporadic exceptions related to territorial pressures. 1. Plurilingualism The enhancement of multilingualism is analyzed here as an educational and teaching strategy that schools pursue in compliance with the educational policies promoted by the State and the Region. In this sense, multilingualism, as a territorial reality, influences the educational offerings of schools, even independently of the forms of protection granted by law to linguistic minorities, such as schools where Slovenian is the language of instruction. The characteristics of the local area and the analysis of the training needs expressed by users and all social, cultural, economic, institutional, and political stakeholders in the area are factors that impact educational planning, not only in developing the Three-Year Training Offer Plan, but also in defining strategies to improve teaching, learning, organizational, and management processes through document management of the National Evaluation System (SNV) cycle introduced by Article 6 of Presidential Decree 80/2013. In the context analyzed, institutional pressures on multilingualism are characterized by low regulatory intensity: neither state nor regional legislation establishes hourly quotas, mandatory indicators, or sanctions for non-compliance. The only binding constraint concerns the full publication of SNV documents. This configuration generates what the literature on neoinstitutionalism calls low-stakes compliance, a condition conducive to decoupling (Meyer & Rowan, 1977): schools draft formally consistent documents with the local context to ensure legitimacy, but fail to invest in corresponding actions (teacher training, budget allocations), since the costs outweigh the benefits in the absence of sanctions. At the microorganizational level, this dynamic can manifest itself, according to Ball (2012), as document tokenism, with declarations of intent regarding multilingualism, included in the PTOF, not always followed by operational actions. Awareness is distributed: the NIV and the school principal intentionally maintain a facade; most teachers, unaware of other tools (RAV, Social Accountability), continue traditional practices, consolidating the gap between form and practice. 2. Objectives and research questions The aim of this dissertation is to analyze how the general principles for promoting plurilingualism, formalized in the Three-Year Plan for the Development of Educational Offerings (Regional Law 13/2018, art. 33), in Laws 26/2007, 29/2007, and in the Guidelines for Teaching on the Adriatic Border, are effectively regulated by schools in their planning documents and implemented in their management documents, with explicit reference to minority languages and the border dimension of Friuli Venezia Giulia. The aim is to verify whether the implementation of educational policies for plurilingualism is dominated by ritual compliance logics (Ball, 2012) with formal approaches, consistent with the institutional decoupling model (Meyer & Rowan, 1977), and to identify the correlations of this phenomenon with the document management system of the National Evaluation System. By comparing SNV documents and management documents pertaining to school principals, we also aim to assess the contribution of school principals in implementing emerging strategies that, according to the theoretical model proposed by Mintzberg (1979), influence the deliberate strategy. Regarding this latter aspect, the research question was adapted to the PICO framework, typical of evidence-based studies but useful for clarifying the terms of comparative documentary analysis and making the research question operational and analyzable according to comparative logics. The research question, formulated according to the PICO model, which we intend to answer is the following: In state high schools in border areas with Slovenia (Population), is exposure to ambiguous multilingualism policies (Intervention) correlated with a greater presence of emerging strategies (Outcome) compared to state high schools in inland areas of the same region (Comparison)? The research question thus formulated allows for an empirically testable comparison between two geographically and sociolinguistically defined groups. On the one hand, ambiguous policies (as analyzed by Van Meter & Van Horn) in a weak-ties system (Weick) can create ideal conditions for decoupling (Meyer & Rowan) as a strategy to maintain external legitimacy without disrupting internal routines. This process is exacerbated by the discretion of street-level bureaucrats (Lipsky), who seek to streamline their work in the absence of clear incentives or sanctions. On the other hand, the thesis introduces Mintzberg's "emergent strategies" as a potential counterforce, an unplanned action that can, in theory, lead to actual implementation. This tension between the structural forces that push toward inertia and symbolic conformity and the potential for individual and organizational agency is not a problem, but the true analytical engine of the research. The central question that emerges from this framework is: under what conditions does structure (decoupling) prevail, and under what conditions does agency (emergent strategies)? Are emerging strategies a true antidote to decoupling, or do they risk becoming symbolic, isolated, and non-systemic actions? This tension is key to understanding the discussion of the findings. 3. Limitations of the existing Literature Existing literature has analyzed the process of valorizing plurilingualism and minority languages spoken in Friuli Venezia Giulia, particularly in relation to linguistic and intercultural dynamics and the teaching methodologies used. Raucci et al. (2019; 2024) highlighted some critical issues with the SNV system for Social Reporting, but to date, studies that link strategic planning within the SNV with the implementation of educational policies for plurilingualism in Friuli Venezia Giulia are lacking. 4. Methodology The methodology adopted for the research is content analysis, a systematic procedure for analyzing institutional documents with the aim of identifying meanings and recurring patterns, as well as analyzing differences between different contexts. This methodology is applied to the institutional and programmatic documents of state high schools in Friuli Venezia Giulia. Applied to school documents, content analysis can be useful for: verifying alignment with national/local educational policies; Identify whether and how schools incorporate ministerial directives; identify differences in policy interpretations; analyze educational discourses and priorities to determine whether institutional documents present standardized approaches; and identify discrepancies between rhetoric and practice by comparing programming documents and operational documents. 5. Results A comparative documentary analysis of the strategic and management documents of state high schools in Friuli Venezia Giulia highlights a prevalence of formal compliance in the implementation of educational policies promoting plurilingualism. References to the local context and linguistic specificities are widely present in planning documents, particularly in the PTOF, but are rarely translated into structured curricular, organizational, or financial actions. A comparison of documents from the National Evaluation System and management documents reveals a recurring misalignment between stated objectives and implementation tools, consistent with the institutional decoupling model. Multilingual initiatives are often isolated, episodic, or marginalized within the curriculum, without impacting ordinary processes. Even in high schools in border areas with Slovenia and those located in contexts with historical linguistic minorities, adherence to policies remains predominantly formal, although sporadic exceptions emerge due to specific territorial pressures. In some cases, management documents reveal elements attributable to emerging strategies (Mintzberg), which allow for a partial overcoming of organizational inertia. However, the lack of structural constraints and accountability mechanisms makes these actions fragile and non-systemic, confirming the low-stakes nature of policy implementation. 6. Contributions to the existing literature In addition to theoretical and empirical contributions, the thesis offers a methodological contribution consisting of the construction and testing of a comparative document analysis model applied to educational institutions and, in particular, to the National Evaluation System. The systematic use of content analysis on a complex corpus of planning and management documents (PTOF, RAV, Improvement Plan, Annual Program, supplementary contracts) allows for an integrated observation of the implementation process of educational policies, transcending the isolated analysis of individual documents. This approach allows us to understand school organization as a coherent (or incoherent) system of formalized decisions, making empirically observable phenomena such as institutional decoupling, ritual compliance, and the emergence of non-deliberate strategies. The adopted analysis model is replicable in other regional contexts and applicable to educational policies other than linguistic ones, serving as a tool for studying the implementation of public policies in decentralized educational organizations. The combination of decoupling (Meyer & Rowan), loose coupling (Weick), and professional bureaucracy (Mintzberg 1979) is well known but has not yet been systematically applied to the interpretation of SNV documents in high schools, in relation to multilingualism. This thesis offers an empirical contribution by filling a gap in the attention paid to the second cycle in language policies, which often focus on the first cycle thanks to targeted funding. The methodological contribution is the use of content analysis in a comparative perspective, extending its application to typically overlooked school documents (SNV documents, Annual Program, supplementary contracts). Finally, the thesis offers a critical-systemic contribution by analyzing the structural weaknesses of the National Evaluation System in managing improvement processes consistent with the territorial objectives of linguistic and cultural enhancement and proposes a reflection on the need to strengthen the links between SNV, the evaluation of school principals (Ministerial Decree 47/2025), and territorial accountability. 7. Conclusions The research shows how the implementation of educational policies for the promotion of plurilingualism in high schools in Friuli Venezia Giulia is strongly influenced by the structural limitations of the National Evaluation System and the weak-linked nature of school organizations. In the absence of binding indicators, sanctions, or incentives, schools tend to interpret these policies as primarily documentary obligations, legitimizing practices of ritual compliance and decoupling. Another outcome of the research concerns the methodological level. The comparative documentary analysis adopted demonstrates how SNV documents can be used not only as formal reporting tools, but also as empirical sources for studying the organizational functioning of schools and the effective implementation of educational policies. In this sense, the thesis demonstrates that the SNV, despite its limitations, offers a significant wealth of information, provided it is analyzed in an integrated and comparative manner, rather than as a set of isolated requirements. The SNV, although formally oriented toward improvement, is ineffective in promoting substantial changes in educational and organizational processes related to plurilingualism, effectively contributing to the consolidation of the gap between policy statements and actual practices. The school principal emerges as a potential key player in implementing policies through emerging strategies, but their impact remains limited until the links between strategic planning, resource allocation, and performance evaluation are strengthened. In conclusion, the promotion of plurilingualism appears to be widely recognized formally, but still weak operationally. Overcoming this condition requires rethinking governance and accountability mechanisms so that educational policies can effectively impact the organization and curriculum of schools. 8. Limitations and future research directions The research was limited to state high schools in Friuli Venezia Giulia, as this context is not monitored for the implementation of policies promoting multilingualism. Future research may focus on the implementation of policies other than linguistic ones, in order to identify patterns in the work of educational institutions. The publication of the 2022-2025 Social Reporting is scheduled for the 2025/2026 school year, and therefore this document was not analyzed. This partially limits the research conducted, as it would have been possible to verify what schools report against what they actually achieve. However, this limitation does not undermine the main objective of the thesis, which is to verify the gap between formal declarations in the planning phase and the actions actually implemented. It is nevertheless appropriate and useful to expand the research conducted by comparing its results with those subsequently documented by schools in their Social Reporting, as this is an unrestricted reporting system that allows schools to report the elements deemed useful and ignore other aspects of their work. The definition of a sample of schools that includes only secondary schools in Friuli Venezia Giulia suggests, among other avenues for future research, an investigation of the achievements of the Republic of Slovenia, especially in relation to border areas.
Questa ricerca analizza come i licei statali del Friuli Venezia Giulia danno attuazione delle policy educative promosse da Stato e dalla Regione per la valorizzazione del plurilinguismo che caratterizza il territorio, non soltanto in riferimento alle minoranze linguistiche storiche tutelate, ma anche e soprattutto di adattamento del curricolo scolastico. La ricerca offre un contributo critico alla letteratura sull’educational policy implementation, proponendo un modello interpretativo che spiega l’inerzia delle scuole attraverso le logiche di decoupling e la debolezza strutturale del Sistema Nazionale di Valutazione (SNV). Le implicazioni pratiche evidenziano la necessità di vincoli più stringenti tra autovalutazione (RAV) e allocazione delle risorse, nei meccanismi di premialità/sanzione per i docenti legati alle policy e l'integrazione obbligatoria del plurilinguismo negli obiettivi di miglioramento. Lo studio propone inoltre un modello replicabile di analisi comparativa dei documenti applicato alle istituzioni scolastiche e al Sistema Nazionale di Valutazione, fornendo un quadro metodologico per indagare l'attuazione delle politiche nelle organizzazioni educative decentralizzate. Attraverso una prospettiva teorica che combina il decoupling istituzionale (Meyer & Rowan, 1977), la natura a legami deboli delle organizzazioni scolastiche (Weick, 1976) e il modello della burocrazia professionale (Mintzberg, 1983), la ricerca intende mostrare come, in diversi casi, le scuole sembrino adottare un approccio burocratico-simbolico alle policy, limitandosi agli adempimenti formali senza tradurli in pratiche didattiche sostanziali. L’analisi documentale comparata rivela tre dinamiche chiave: 1. Scarsa accountability: l’assenza di sanzioni per il mancato raggiungimento degli obiettivi legati al plurilinguismo incentiva un’autovalutazione superficiale nel RAV e piani di miglioramento inefficaci. 2. Isolamento delle policy: le iniziative plurilingui sono spesso relegate a progetti marginali, non integrati nel curricolo, riflettendo la capacità delle scuole di assorbire le innovazioni senza modificarne il funzionamento (Weick, 1976). 3. Disallineamento risorse-obiettivi: Il Programma Annuale e i Contratti Integrativi raramente prevedono finanziamenti o incentivi per tradurre le policy in azioni concrete (Mintzberg, 1983). Lo studio confronta inoltre i licei statali in aree di confine con la Repubblica di Slovenia con i licei statali delle aree interne, nonché i licei statali in contesti con minoranze linguistiche storiche (friulano e sloveno), per verificare se la particolare collocazione geografica e configurazione sociolinguistica siano correlate ad un’adesione più autentica alle policy. Le tue categorie, geografica e sociolinguistica, riflettono la normativa nazionale e regionale (Legge 482/1999 e Statuto del FVG), che riconosce sia le minoranze confinarie (sloveno) sia non confinarie (friulano). I risultati suggeriscono che, persino in queste realtà, l’approccio dominante rimane formale, sebbene con sporadiche eccezioni legate a pressioni territoriali. 1. Plurilinguismo La valorizzazione del plurilinguismo è qui analizzata come strategia educativa e didattica che la scuola persegue in ottemperanza alle policy educative promosse da Stato e regione. In tal senso, il plurilinguismo in quanto realtà territoriale condiziona l'offerta formativa delle scuole, anche indipendentemente dalle forme di tutela che la legge riconosce alle minoranze linguistiche, come ad esempio le scuole con lingua di insegnamento slovena. Le caratteristiche del del territorio e l'analisi dei bisogni formativi espressi dall'utenza e da tutti gli attori sociali, culturali, economici, istituzionali e politici del territorio, sono fattori che incidono nella progettazione educativa non solo per l'elaborazione del Piano Triennale dell'Offerta Formativa, ma anche per la definizione di strategie di miglioramento dei processi didattici, educativi, organizzativi e gestionali attraverso la gestione documentale del ciclo del Sistema Nazionale di Valutazione (SNV) introdotto dall'articolo 6 del DPR 80/2013. Nel contesto analizzato, le pressioni istituzionali sul plurilinguismo sono caratterizzate da bassa intensità normativa: né la legislazione statale né quella regionale prevedono quote orarie, indicatori obbligatori o sanzioni in caso di inadempienza. L’unico vincolo cogente riguarda la pubblicazione integrale dei documenti SNV. Tale configurazione genera ciò che la letteratura sul neoinstitutionalism definisce low-stakes compliance, condizione favorevole al decoupling (Meyer & Rowan, 1977): le scuole redigono documenti formalmente coerenti con il territorio per assicurarsi legittimità, ma non investono nelle azioni corrispondenti (formazione docenti, stanziamenti di bilancio), poiché i costi superano i benefici in assenza di sanzioni. A livello micro-organizzativo, questa dinamica può manifestarsi, secondo Ball (2012), come tokenismo documentale, con dichiarazioni di intenti sul plurilinguismo, inserite nel PTOF, non sempre seguite da azioni operative. La consapevolezza è distribuita: il NIV e il dirigente scolastico mantengono intenzionalmente la facciata; gran parte dei docenti, ignari degli altri strumenti (RAV, Rendicontazione Sociale), continua pratiche tradizionali, consolidando il divario forma-prassi. 2. Obiettivi e domande di ricerca L'obiettivo della tesi è analizzare come i principi generali di valorizzazione del plurilinguismo, formalizzati nel Piano triennale per lo sviluppo dell'offerta formativa (L.R. 13/2018, art. 33), nella L. 26/2007, nella L. 29/2007 e nelle Linee guida per la didattica della Frontiera Adriatica, siano effettivamente regolati dalle istituzioni scolastiche nei loro documenti programmatori e realizzate nei loro atti gestionali, con esplicito riferimento alle lingue di minoranza e alla dimensione frontaliera del Friuli Venezia Giulia. Si intende in tal modo verificare se nell'implementazione delle policy educative per il plurilinguismo prevalgono logiche di ritual compliance (Ball, 2012) con approcci formali, coerentemente con il modello del decoupling istituzionale (Meyer & Rowan, 1977) e individuare le correlazioni di tale fenomeno con il sistema di gestione documentale del Sistema Nazionale di Valutazione. Attraverso il confronto tra documenti SNV e documenti di gestione di pertinenza dei dirigenti scolastici si intende verificare inoltre il contributo dei dirigenti scolastici nell'attuazione di strategie emergenti che, secondo il modello teorico proposto da Mintzberg (1979), influenzano la strategia deliberata. Relativamente a quest'ultimo aspetto, la domanda di ricerca è stata ricondotta alla struttura PICO, tipica degli studi evidence-based ma utile per esplicitare i termini dell’analisi documentale comparata e per rendere la domanda di ricerca operativa e analizzabile secondo logiche comparate. La domanda di ricerca, formulata secondo il modello PICO, alla quale si intende rispondere è la seguente: Nei licei statali delle aree di confine con la Slovenia (Population), l'esposizione a policy sul plurilinguismo caratterizzate da ambiguità (Intervention) è correlata a una maggiore presenza di strategie emergenti (Outcome) rispetto ai licei statali delle aree interne della stessa regione (Comparison)? La domanda di ricerca così formulata permette un confronto empiricamente testabile tra due gruppi geograficamente e sociolinguisticamente definiti. Da un lato, le policy ambigue (come analizzato tramite Van Meter & Van Horn) in un sistema a legami deboli (Weick) possono creare le condizioni ideali per il decoupling (Meyer & Rowan) come strategia per mantenere la legittimità esterna senza alterare le routine interne. Questo processo è esacerbato dalla discrezionalità degli street-level bureaucrats (Lipsky), che cercano di semplificare il loro lavoro in assenza di chiari incentivi o sanzioni. Dall'altro lato, la tesi introduce le "strategie emergenti" di Mintzberg come potenziale contro-forza, un'azione non pianificata che può, in teoria, portare a un'implementazione reale. Questa tensione tra le forze strutturali che spingono verso l'inerzia e il conformismo simbolico e il potenziale di agenzia individuale e organizzativa non è un problema, ma il vero motore analitico della ricerca. La domanda centrale che emerge da questo impianto è: in quali condizioni prevale la struttura (decoupling) e in quali l'agenzia (strategie emergenti)? Le strategie emergenti sono un vero antidoto al decoupling o rischiano di diventare esse stesse azioni simboliche, isolate e non sistemiche? Questa tensione è la chiave interpretativa nella discussione dei risultati. 3. Limitazioni della letteratura esistente La letteratura esistente ha analizzato il processo di valorizzazione del plurilinguismo e delle lingue minoritarie parlate in Friuli Venezia Giulia soprattutto in relazione alle dinamiche linguistiche, interculturali e alle metodologie didattiche utilizzate. Raucci et al. (2019; 2024) hanno evidenziato alcune criticità del sistema SNV per la Rendicontazione Sociale, ma mancano ad oggi studi che mettono in relazione la pianificazione strategica nell'ambito del SNV con l'attuazione delle policy educative per il plurilinguismo del Friuli Venezia Giulia. 4. Metodologia La metodologia adottata per la ricerca è la content analysis come procedura sistematica analizzare documenti istituzionale con lo scopo di rilevare significati e individuare modelli ricorrenti, nonché analizzare differenze tra contesti diversi. Tale metodologia è applicata ai documenti istituzionali e programmatici dei licei statali del Friuli Venezia Giulia. Applicata a documenti scolastici, la content analysis può essere utile per: verificare l’allineamento con le policy educative nazionali/locali; identificare se e come le scuole incorporano direttive ministeriali; identificare differenze nell'interpretazione delle policy; analizzare discorsi e priorità educative per verificare se i documenti istituzionali presentano approcci standardizzati; identificare discrepanze tra retorica e pratica attraverso il confronto tra documenti programmatori e documenti operativi. 5. Risultati L’analisi documentale comparata dei documenti strategici e gestionali dei licei statali del Friuli Venezia Giulia evidenzia una prevalenza di comportamenti di compliance formale nell’attuazione delle policy educative di valorizzazione del plurilinguismo. I riferimenti al contesto territoriale e alle specificità linguistiche sono ampiamente presenti nei documenti di pianificazione, in particolare nel PTOF, ma raramente trovano una traduzione strutturata in azioni curricolari, organizzative o finanziarie. Il confronto tra documenti del Sistema Nazionale di Valutazione e documenti di gestione mostra un ricorrente disallineamento tra obiettivi dichiarati e strumenti di attuazione, coerente con il modello del decoupling istituzionale. Le iniziative plurilingui risultano spesso isolate, episodiche o collocate ai margini dell’offerta formativa, senza incidere sui processi ordinari. Anche nei licei delle aree di confine con la Slovenia e in quelli situati in contesti con minoranze linguistiche storiche, l’adesione alle policy rimane prevalentemente formale, sebbene emergano sporadiche eccezioni legate a pressioni territoriali specifiche. In alcuni casi, nei documenti di competenza dirigenziale si rilevano elementi riconducibili a strategie emergenti (Mintzberg), che consentono un parziale superamento dell’inerzia organizzativa. Tuttavia, l’assenza di vincoli strutturali e di meccanismi di accountability rende tali azioni fragili e non sistemiche, confermando il carattere low-stakes dell’attuazione delle policy. 6. Contributi alla letteratura esistente Oltre ai contributi teorici ed empirici, la tesi propone un contributo metodologico consistente nella costruzione e sperimentazione di un modello di analisi documentale comparativa applicato alle istituzioni scolastiche e, in particolare, al Sistema Nazionale di Valutazione. L’utilizzo sistematico della content analysis su un corpus articolato di documenti programmatori e gestionali (PTOF, RAV, Piano di Miglioramento, Programma Annuale, contratti integrativi) consente di osservare in modo integrato il processo di implementazione delle policy educative, superando l’analisi isolata dei singoli documenti. Tale approccio permette di leggere l’organizzazione scolastica come un sistema coerente (o incoerente) di decisioni formalizzate, rendendo empiricamente osservabili fenomeni quali il decoupling istituzionale, la ritual compliance e l’emergere di strategie non deliberate. Il modello di analisi adottato è replicabile in altri contesti territoriali e applicabile a policy educative diverse da quelle linguistiche, configurandosi come uno strumento di studio dell’implementazione delle politiche pubbliche in organizzazioni educative decentrate. La combinazione di decoupling (Meyer & Rowan), loose coupling (Weick) e burocrazia professionale (Mintzberg 1979) è nota ma non ancora applicata sistematicamente alla lettura dei documenti SNV nei licei, in relazione al plurilinguismo. La tesi offre un contributo empirico in quanto colma un vuoto di attenzione verso il secondo ciclo nelle policy linguistiche, che spesso si concentrano sul primo ciclo grazie ai finanziamenti mirati. Il contributo metodologico offerto è l'utilizzo della content analysis in chiave comparata, estendendone l’applicazione a documenti scolastici solitamente trascurati (documenti SNV, Programma Annuale, contratti integrativi). Infine, la tesi offre un contributo critico-sistemico, in quanto analizza le debolezze strutturali del Sistema Nazionale di Valutazione nella gestione di processi di miglioramento coerenti con gli obiettivi territoriali di valorizzazione linguistico-culturale e propone una riflessione sulla necessità di rafforzare i legami tra SNV, valutazione dei dirigenti scolastici (DM 47/2025) e accountability territoriale. 7. Conclusioni La ricerca mostra come l’implementazione delle policy educative per la valorizzazione del plurilinguismo nei licei del Friuli Venezia Giulia sia fortemente condizionata dai limiti strutturali del Sistema Nazionale di Valutazione e dalla natura a legami deboli delle organizzazioni scolastiche. In assenza di indicatori vincolanti, sanzioni o incentivi, le scuole tendono a interpretare tali policy come obblighi prevalentemente documentali, legittimando pratiche di ritual compliance e decoupling. Un ulteriore esito della ricerca riguarda il piano metodologico. L’analisi documentale comparativa adottata dimostra come i documenti del SNV possano essere utilizzati non solo come strumenti di rendicontazione formale, ma come fonti empiriche per lo studio del funzionamento organizzativo delle scuole e dell’effettiva attuazione delle policy educative. In questo senso, la tesi mostra che il SNV, pur con i suoi limiti, offre un patrimonio informativo rilevante, a condizione che venga analizzato in modo integrato e comparato, anziché come insieme di adempimenti isolati. Il SNV, pur orientato formalmente al miglioramento, risulta poco efficace nel promuovere cambiamenti sostanziali nei processi educativi e organizzativi legati al plurilinguismo, contribuendo di fatto a consolidare la distanza tra dichiarazioni programmatiche e pratiche reali. Il dirigente scolastico emerge come potenziale attore chiave per l’attuazione delle policy attraverso strategie emergenti, ma il loro impatto resta limitato finché non vengono rafforzati i legami tra pianificazione strategica, allocazione delle risorse e valutazione delle performance. In conclusione, la valorizzazione del plurilinguismo appare ampiamente riconosciuta sul piano formale, ma ancora debole sul piano operativo. Superare questa condizione richiede un ripensamento dei meccanismi di governance e accountability, affinché le policy educative possano incidere in modo effettivo sull’organizzazione e sul curricolo delle istituzioni scolastiche. 8. Limiti e traiettorie di ricerca futura La ricerca è stata limitata ai licei statali del Friuli Venezia Giulia in quanto contesto non sorvegliato per l'attuazione delle politiche di valorizzazione del plurilinguismo. La ricerca futura potrà essere indirizzata verso l'attuazione di policy diverse da quelle linguistiche, in modo da individuare pattern nell'operato delle istituzioni scolastiche. La pubblicazione della Rendicontazione Sociale è prevista nell'anno scolastico 2025/2026 e pertanto tale documento non è stato analizzato. Ciò limita in parte la ricerca svolta in quanto sarebbe stato possibile verificare cosa le scuole rendicontano a fronte di quanto effettivamente realizzato, tuttavia tale limite non pregiudica l'obiettivo principale della tesi, che è quello di verificare lo scarto tra dichiarazioni formali in fase di programmazione e le azioni effettivamente realizzate. È nondimeno opportuno e utile ampliare la ricerca svolta confrontandone i risultati con quanto poi documentato dalle istituzioni scolastiche nella Rendicontazione Sociale, in quanto si tratta di una rendicontazione non vincolata che permette alle scuole di rendicontare gli elementi ritenuti utili e trascurare altri aspetti dell'operato. La definizione di un campione di scuole che comprende solo le istituzioni scolastiche del secondo ciclo di istruzione del Friuli Venezia Giulia suggerisce tra le traiettorie di ricerca futura un'indagine su quanto realizzato dalla Repubblica di Slovenia, soprattutto in relazione alle zone di confine.
IL PLURILINGUISMO NELLA FRONTIERA ADRIATICA. Attuazione delle politiche scolastiche di valorizzazione del plurilinguismo nei licei statali del Friuli Venezia Giulia
Castronovo, Fausto
2026
Abstract
This research analyzes how state high schools in Friuli Venezia Giulia implement the educational policies promoted by the State and the Region to enhance the multilingualism that characterizes the region, not only with regard to protected historical linguistic minorities, but also and above all with regard to the adaptation of the school curriculum. This research offers a critical contribution to the literature on educational policy implementation, proposing an interpretative model that explains school inertia through decoupling logics and the structural weakness of the National Evaluation System (SNV). Practical implications highlight the need for tighter constraints between self-evaluation (RAV) and resource allocation, for policy-related teacher reward/punishment mechanisms, and for the mandatory inclusion of multilingualism in improvement objectives. The study also proposes a replicable model of comparative document analysis applied to schools and the National Evaluation System, providing a methodological framework for investigating policy implementation in decentralized educational organizations. Through a theoretical perspective that combines institutional decoupling (Meyer & Rowan, 1977), the weak-ties nature of school organizations (Weick, 1976), and the professional bureaucracy model (Mintzberg, 1983), the research aims to demonstrate how, in several cases, schools appear to adopt a symbolic-bureaucratic approach to policies, limiting themselves to formal requirements without translating them into substantive teaching practices. The comparative document analysis reveals three key dynamics: 1. Poor accountability: the lack of sanctions for failure to achieve multilingualism-related objectives encourages superficial self-assessment in the RAV and ineffective improvement plans. 2. Policy Isolation: Multilingual initiatives are often relegated to marginal projects, not integrated into the curriculum, reflecting the ability of schools to absorb innovations without changing their functioning (Weick, 1976). 3. Resource-Objective Misalignment: The Annual Program and Supplementary Contracts rarely provide funding or incentives to translate policies into concrete actions (Mintzberg, 1983). The study also compares state high schools in border areas with the Republic of Slovenia with state high schools in inland areas, as well as state high schools in contexts with historical linguistic minorities (Friulian and Slovenian), to verify whether the particular geographic location and sociolinguistic configuration correlate with more authentic policy adherence. The geographic and sociolinguistic categories reflect national and regional legislation (Law 482/1999 and the Friuli Venezia Giulia Statute), which recognizes both border (Slovenian) and non-border (Friulian) minorities. The findings suggest that, even in these settings, the dominant approach remains formal, albeit with sporadic exceptions related to territorial pressures. 1. Plurilingualism The enhancement of multilingualism is analyzed here as an educational and teaching strategy that schools pursue in compliance with the educational policies promoted by the State and the Region. In this sense, multilingualism, as a territorial reality, influences the educational offerings of schools, even independently of the forms of protection granted by law to linguistic minorities, such as schools where Slovenian is the language of instruction. The characteristics of the local area and the analysis of the training needs expressed by users and all social, cultural, economic, institutional, and political stakeholders in the area are factors that impact educational planning, not only in developing the Three-Year Training Offer Plan, but also in defining strategies to improve teaching, learning, organizational, and management processes through document management of the National Evaluation System (SNV) cycle introduced by Article 6 of Presidential Decree 80/2013. In the context analyzed, institutional pressures on multilingualism are characterized by low regulatory intensity: neither state nor regional legislation establishes hourly quotas, mandatory indicators, or sanctions for non-compliance. The only binding constraint concerns the full publication of SNV documents. This configuration generates what the literature on neoinstitutionalism calls low-stakes compliance, a condition conducive to decoupling (Meyer & Rowan, 1977): schools draft formally consistent documents with the local context to ensure legitimacy, but fail to invest in corresponding actions (teacher training, budget allocations), since the costs outweigh the benefits in the absence of sanctions. At the microorganizational level, this dynamic can manifest itself, according to Ball (2012), as document tokenism, with declarations of intent regarding multilingualism, included in the PTOF, not always followed by operational actions. Awareness is distributed: the NIV and the school principal intentionally maintain a facade; most teachers, unaware of other tools (RAV, Social Accountability), continue traditional practices, consolidating the gap between form and practice. 2. Objectives and research questions The aim of this dissertation is to analyze how the general principles for promoting plurilingualism, formalized in the Three-Year Plan for the Development of Educational Offerings (Regional Law 13/2018, art. 33), in Laws 26/2007, 29/2007, and in the Guidelines for Teaching on the Adriatic Border, are effectively regulated by schools in their planning documents and implemented in their management documents, with explicit reference to minority languages and the border dimension of Friuli Venezia Giulia. The aim is to verify whether the implementation of educational policies for plurilingualism is dominated by ritual compliance logics (Ball, 2012) with formal approaches, consistent with the institutional decoupling model (Meyer & Rowan, 1977), and to identify the correlations of this phenomenon with the document management system of the National Evaluation System. By comparing SNV documents and management documents pertaining to school principals, we also aim to assess the contribution of school principals in implementing emerging strategies that, according to the theoretical model proposed by Mintzberg (1979), influence the deliberate strategy. Regarding this latter aspect, the research question was adapted to the PICO framework, typical of evidence-based studies but useful for clarifying the terms of comparative documentary analysis and making the research question operational and analyzable according to comparative logics. The research question, formulated according to the PICO model, which we intend to answer is the following: In state high schools in border areas with Slovenia (Population), is exposure to ambiguous multilingualism policies (Intervention) correlated with a greater presence of emerging strategies (Outcome) compared to state high schools in inland areas of the same region (Comparison)? The research question thus formulated allows for an empirically testable comparison between two geographically and sociolinguistically defined groups. On the one hand, ambiguous policies (as analyzed by Van Meter & Van Horn) in a weak-ties system (Weick) can create ideal conditions for decoupling (Meyer & Rowan) as a strategy to maintain external legitimacy without disrupting internal routines. This process is exacerbated by the discretion of street-level bureaucrats (Lipsky), who seek to streamline their work in the absence of clear incentives or sanctions. On the other hand, the thesis introduces Mintzberg's "emergent strategies" as a potential counterforce, an unplanned action that can, in theory, lead to actual implementation. This tension between the structural forces that push toward inertia and symbolic conformity and the potential for individual and organizational agency is not a problem, but the true analytical engine of the research. The central question that emerges from this framework is: under what conditions does structure (decoupling) prevail, and under what conditions does agency (emergent strategies)? Are emerging strategies a true antidote to decoupling, or do they risk becoming symbolic, isolated, and non-systemic actions? This tension is key to understanding the discussion of the findings. 3. Limitations of the existing Literature Existing literature has analyzed the process of valorizing plurilingualism and minority languages spoken in Friuli Venezia Giulia, particularly in relation to linguistic and intercultural dynamics and the teaching methodologies used. Raucci et al. (2019; 2024) highlighted some critical issues with the SNV system for Social Reporting, but to date, studies that link strategic planning within the SNV with the implementation of educational policies for plurilingualism in Friuli Venezia Giulia are lacking. 4. Methodology The methodology adopted for the research is content analysis, a systematic procedure for analyzing institutional documents with the aim of identifying meanings and recurring patterns, as well as analyzing differences between different contexts. This methodology is applied to the institutional and programmatic documents of state high schools in Friuli Venezia Giulia. Applied to school documents, content analysis can be useful for: verifying alignment with national/local educational policies; Identify whether and how schools incorporate ministerial directives; identify differences in policy interpretations; analyze educational discourses and priorities to determine whether institutional documents present standardized approaches; and identify discrepancies between rhetoric and practice by comparing programming documents and operational documents. 5. Results A comparative documentary analysis of the strategic and management documents of state high schools in Friuli Venezia Giulia highlights a prevalence of formal compliance in the implementation of educational policies promoting plurilingualism. References to the local context and linguistic specificities are widely present in planning documents, particularly in the PTOF, but are rarely translated into structured curricular, organizational, or financial actions. A comparison of documents from the National Evaluation System and management documents reveals a recurring misalignment between stated objectives and implementation tools, consistent with the institutional decoupling model. Multilingual initiatives are often isolated, episodic, or marginalized within the curriculum, without impacting ordinary processes. Even in high schools in border areas with Slovenia and those located in contexts with historical linguistic minorities, adherence to policies remains predominantly formal, although sporadic exceptions emerge due to specific territorial pressures. In some cases, management documents reveal elements attributable to emerging strategies (Mintzberg), which allow for a partial overcoming of organizational inertia. However, the lack of structural constraints and accountability mechanisms makes these actions fragile and non-systemic, confirming the low-stakes nature of policy implementation. 6. Contributions to the existing literature In addition to theoretical and empirical contributions, the thesis offers a methodological contribution consisting of the construction and testing of a comparative document analysis model applied to educational institutions and, in particular, to the National Evaluation System. The systematic use of content analysis on a complex corpus of planning and management documents (PTOF, RAV, Improvement Plan, Annual Program, supplementary contracts) allows for an integrated observation of the implementation process of educational policies, transcending the isolated analysis of individual documents. This approach allows us to understand school organization as a coherent (or incoherent) system of formalized decisions, making empirically observable phenomena such as institutional decoupling, ritual compliance, and the emergence of non-deliberate strategies. The adopted analysis model is replicable in other regional contexts and applicable to educational policies other than linguistic ones, serving as a tool for studying the implementation of public policies in decentralized educational organizations. The combination of decoupling (Meyer & Rowan), loose coupling (Weick), and professional bureaucracy (Mintzberg 1979) is well known but has not yet been systematically applied to the interpretation of SNV documents in high schools, in relation to multilingualism. This thesis offers an empirical contribution by filling a gap in the attention paid to the second cycle in language policies, which often focus on the first cycle thanks to targeted funding. The methodological contribution is the use of content analysis in a comparative perspective, extending its application to typically overlooked school documents (SNV documents, Annual Program, supplementary contracts). Finally, the thesis offers a critical-systemic contribution by analyzing the structural weaknesses of the National Evaluation System in managing improvement processes consistent with the territorial objectives of linguistic and cultural enhancement and proposes a reflection on the need to strengthen the links between SNV, the evaluation of school principals (Ministerial Decree 47/2025), and territorial accountability. 7. Conclusions The research shows how the implementation of educational policies for the promotion of plurilingualism in high schools in Friuli Venezia Giulia is strongly influenced by the structural limitations of the National Evaluation System and the weak-linked nature of school organizations. In the absence of binding indicators, sanctions, or incentives, schools tend to interpret these policies as primarily documentary obligations, legitimizing practices of ritual compliance and decoupling. Another outcome of the research concerns the methodological level. The comparative documentary analysis adopted demonstrates how SNV documents can be used not only as formal reporting tools, but also as empirical sources for studying the organizational functioning of schools and the effective implementation of educational policies. In this sense, the thesis demonstrates that the SNV, despite its limitations, offers a significant wealth of information, provided it is analyzed in an integrated and comparative manner, rather than as a set of isolated requirements. The SNV, although formally oriented toward improvement, is ineffective in promoting substantial changes in educational and organizational processes related to plurilingualism, effectively contributing to the consolidation of the gap between policy statements and actual practices. The school principal emerges as a potential key player in implementing policies through emerging strategies, but their impact remains limited until the links between strategic planning, resource allocation, and performance evaluation are strengthened. In conclusion, the promotion of plurilingualism appears to be widely recognized formally, but still weak operationally. Overcoming this condition requires rethinking governance and accountability mechanisms so that educational policies can effectively impact the organization and curriculum of schools. 8. Limitations and future research directions The research was limited to state high schools in Friuli Venezia Giulia, as this context is not monitored for the implementation of policies promoting multilingualism. Future research may focus on the implementation of policies other than linguistic ones, in order to identify patterns in the work of educational institutions. The publication of the 2022-2025 Social Reporting is scheduled for the 2025/2026 school year, and therefore this document was not analyzed. This partially limits the research conducted, as it would have been possible to verify what schools report against what they actually achieve. However, this limitation does not undermine the main objective of the thesis, which is to verify the gap between formal declarations in the planning phase and the actions actually implemented. It is nevertheless appropriate and useful to expand the research conducted by comparing its results with those subsequently documented by schools in their Social Reporting, as this is an unrestricted reporting system that allows schools to report the elements deemed useful and ignore other aspects of their work. The definition of a sample of schools that includes only secondary schools in Friuli Venezia Giulia suggests, among other avenues for future research, an investigation of the achievements of the Republic of Slovenia, especially in relation to border areas.| File | Dimensione | Formato | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Tesi_phd_Fausto_Castronovo.pdf
accesso aperto
Licenza:
Creative Commons
Dimensione
7.11 MB
Formato
Adobe PDF
|
7.11 MB | Adobe PDF | Visualizza/Apri |
I documenti in UNITESI sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14242/381786
URN:NBN:IT:UNISTRADA-381786