Social Pedagogy (2016/2017)

Learning outcomes

The course aims to:
- Introduce the students to social pedagogy as a specific area for research, theory development and practice.
- Make the students reflect on the similarities and differences in the theory about, and practice of, social pedagogy in Italy, when compared to other European countries (e.g. Denmark).
- Make the students knowledgeable about the different contributions paid to social pedagogy in Italy by the teacher Alberto Manzi (1924-1997), the educator Ettore Gelpi (1933-2002) and the academic professor Piero Bertolini (1931-2006).

Born as an alternative to the dominant educational model, social pedagogy has developed as a particular area of research, theory and practice; an area that favours an understanding of education as a social fact, hence the educational value of social action. While this has made social pedagogy flourish as a distinctive area of theory and practice, from a conceptual viewpoint it has maintained a certain conceptual ambiguity between social pedagogy and education, in Italy as in other European countries.
The theoretical premise underpinning the course is that social pedagogy has been differently interpreted over time, as well as within different European traditions, as a compensatory, alternative or supplementary model to the dominant educational models. As such, social pedagogy has for the most targeted citizens that were under-privileged or excluded, when not considered ‘deviant’ from prevailing social norms and expectations. In recent years, however, several scholars, in Italy and Europe, have put under scrutiny the conceptual premises on which this interpretation of social pedagogy rests.
Specifically, a new attention on lifelong learning for all citizens, independently of age, and whether they are natives or immigrants, living freely or in institutions, as argued in this course, calls for a reconceptualization of social pedagogy based on three basic principles: 1) a holistic interpretation of social development; 2) a humanistic concern for a kind of social development that makes the social actors 'most authentically human'; and 3) an integrated approach to improving the quality of life in all its aspects, and along its entire span.
In this course, students will have the opportunity to reflect on what falls within the theory and practice of social pedagogy. In doing so they will have the opportunity to reflect on the relationship between social pedagogy and citizenship formation as well as on the different areas of socio-pedagogical intervention.

Teaching method.
The course adopts an 'active learning' approach. Lecturing will be integrated with the use of audiovisuals, and students attending the course will be expected to actively participate in discussions, and to work in small groups.
At the start of the semester, working groups of three students each will be formed. Once established (in accordance with the lecturer), groups can organize their work autonomously.

Textbooks
Testi d’esame
▪ Catarci, M. (2013). Le forme sociali dell'educazione. Servizi, territori, società. Milano: Franco Angeli
▪ Barone, P. (2011). Pedagogia della marginalità e della devianza: Modelli teorici, questione minorile, criteri di
consulenza e intervento. Milano: Guerini Scientifica.
▪ Bertolini, P., Caronia, L. (2015). Ragazzi Difficili. Pedagogia interpretativa e linee d'intervento. Milano: Franco Angeli.
▪ Farné, R. (2011). Alberto Manzi: L'avventura di un maestro. Bologna: Bononia University Press.
▪ Riccardi, V. (2014). L'educazione per tutti e per tutta la vita: Il contributo pedagogico di Ettore Gelpi.

For students attending the course, the final grade will be based on:
(1) a group presentation: 20% of the final grade.
(2) an individual portfolio, produced in itinere, made of: 1 written comment to a book + 1 written comment to a movie + 1 written essay (individually written or written in group, upon previous agreement with the lecturer): 50% of the final grade.
(3) a short oral exam (as by exams calendar): 30% of the final grade.

Students non attending the course should contact the lecturer by the end of the IIA semester to agree on an alternative form of evaluation the group presentation.

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(1) Group Presentation
Each group will present a chapter from one of the textbooks. The presentation should include:
• an outline and introduction of the chapter,
• feedback and critique of the chapter,
• remarks on how the chapter relates to what presented and discussed during the course.

All group members are expected to actively contribute in the preparation and oral presentation (15 minutes in total).

(2) Individual portfolio
- Written comment to a book (details to follow upon commencement of the course)
- Written comment to a movie (details to follow upon commencement of the course)
- Essay: Each student, at the end of Semester IIA, will have to identify a topic of interest, to be agreed with the lecturer, and write an argumentative essay, resulting from individual or group analysis, discussion, and critical reflection.
Individual essays should be approx. 5 pages in length (2,500 characters per page), excluding bibliography and appendices
Group essays should be approx. 10 pages in length (2,500 characters per page), excluding bibliography and appendices

(3) Oral exam
After the course, students shall undertake a brief oral examination concerning the topics addressed during the course. This examination aims at assessing not only the knowledge acquired through reading & preparing the individual portfolio, but also the individual’s ability to reflect critically on the knowledge acquired in order to establish meaningful connections.

STUDENT MODULE EVALUATION - 2016/2017