A Reflexive methodology for action -research with disadvantages students in higher education

The growing phenomena of disadvantaged and non-traditional students increases the risk of educational underachievement and drop-out in university context of the European countries. Within European funded project INSTALL (Innovative Solutions to Acquire Learning to Learn), to be developed over the next two years in Italy (lead partner), Romania, Denmark, Ireland, and Spain, this paper discusses the effectiveness of the use of qualitative tools to promote a reflexive competence on the formative experience and so a functional adjustment to the university context. The Narrative Mediation Path (NMP) is an innovative and qualitative methodology that develops a group training process targeted to disadvantaged students. NMP, based on the psychological concept of mentalization, also known as reflexive competence (Fonagy & Target, 1997; Allen & Fonagy, 2008), combines into one methodology four discursive modules: Metaphoric, Iconographic, Writing and Bodily. The use of ???multidimensional??? narrative (Hermans, 2001), promote a progressive cognitive and emotional involvement of the student; a gradual transition from exploration of the entire university experience to a specific and individual experience and a gradual evolution from a reconstructive function of the formative experience to a planning function that allows students to act in an effective way in the university context. The results suggest that the use of different discursive modules supports the students in the recognition of different abilities.