Panel K.03 — Facing the democratic crisis through a renewed pedagogical culture and alternative educational perspectives
Convenors Claudia Secci (University of Cagliari, Italy)
Keywords democracy crisis, alternative education, pedagogical culture, poverty, justice
Western democracies face a deep crisis. What is questioned is the very core of their life: the educational and cultural participation of the citizens (Dewey 1944).
The historical background of this crisis lay, in Italy, in the lost of reputation of the political system, which failes in attracting the popular engagement and in other structural and economic reasons (Mortari 2008).
The question is how this crisis influences education and creates social and educational poverty (Giroux 2012).
Does the economic and political system lay financial and cultural weight on values others than education and culture (Mayo 2015)?
Does the highlight on competition, complex selection- and evaluation processes in the school- and university systems help in overcoming educational poverties or does it obstaculate their removal (Giroux 2012; Giuliano, Pozzo, 2015)?
In this panel we expect to receive contributions that theoretically frame the previously mentioned issues and also propose significant pedagogical and educational experiences that can face them or, otherwise, propose new patterns in the different contexts of formal, non formal and informal education (Spano, Secci, 2021).
The themes on the table are, in particular (but may also be complemented with other proposals and research perspectives):
Theoretical approaches and practical strategies that strenghten the pedagogical culture of the knowledge systems (Nussbaum, 2010);
Theoretical approaches and practical strategies that focus on the learner’s creativity and personal development (Knowles, 1973);
Research and experiences of permanent and widespread education (Slowey, Watson 2003) that are based upon the active citizenship.
Non formal and informal educational experiences with young people (Porfilio, Roychoudhury, Roygardner 2013) aimed at developing their vision of the worlds poverties, inequalities and social unjustice and hardships.