Learning objectives

A theory of education expresses a conception of the human flourishing and of the ways through which it can be promoted; coherently, it orients the design of educative experiences aimed at developing the different existentive dimensions of the person. The theory of education on which the course is focused is the Socratic one that conceives education as a practice of care: according to this conception, the mission of the educator consists in encouraging the other to care for him/herself.
Knowledge and understanding:
At the end of the course, students should know the theories of education that, from the antiquity to the present day, develop the conception of education as a practice of care; furthermore, they should have understood how the educative experiences, designed starting from these theories, qualify themselves.
Moreover, students should know what are the fundamental issues that arise from a theoretical reflection on teaching and education, what are the problems that nowadays emerge in the educational contexts and what are the main challenges that the didactic practice has to face today.
Capacity to apply knowledge and understanding:
At the end of the course, students should be able to frame the pedagogical reflection adequately, by giving reference to the fundamental theories of education deepened during the lessons, and its main practical declinations, with reference to educative and didactic projects realized in schools.
Autonomy of judgment:
At the end of the course, students should have developed:
-the capacity to individuate and critically investigate the educational needs of contemporaneity;
-the capacity to critically evaluate the didactic and educative practices, being able to recognize the theoretical perspectives that orient their design;
-the capacity to critically examine the coherence between the educative experiences and the theoretical conceptions to which they explicitly inspire themselves.