• This course is available in: Athens, Berlin, Prague, Rome, Valencia
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“If the sky is only one, why is the earth fragmentary?” The question from a novel by Gianni Rodari - one of the main Italian authors of children’s literature - describes properly the challenge of pedagogy: increasing students’ aspiration for equality, inclusion, and political participation in favor of democratic values rather than social competition. The course will explore the didactic solutions offered in the educational settings proposed by some of the most important educationalists of the 20th century: the Barbiana school of Don Lorenzo Milani, the pedagogy of the oppressed of Paulo Freire, the natural method of Celestin Freinet, and the Reggio Emilia approach of Loris Malaguzzi. Don Milani, Freire, Freinet, and Malaguzzi all developed innovative educational techniques to create the conditions for children and young people to cooperate within the classroom first, and to contribute to the local and national community, then. The course is intended for both school teachers and educators and social workers working with children and young adults. Participants will explore how to replicate similar participatory practices in their classroom or other educational settings to increase motivation, collaboration, and inclusion among their learners, and to educate them to promote active participation and social change. Accordingly, they will explore the educational principles and practices proposed by Don Milani, Freire, Freinet, and Malaguzzi. They will analyze the difficulties and potentialities of the methodologies they proposed. Collaborative writing and typography invite participants to focus on the democratic process of making choi...read more.