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10
Part One
Learning, planning and evaluation
and contrary to every theory that sees the teacher as the depositary of
knowledge which is to be simply transmitted.
Constructivism first and socio-constructivism later re-evaluate the
specificity of higher capacities and the role played by the context:
the development of the higher thinking is influenced by the social
context; reality, after all, is not conceivable according to a fixed and
unchanging structure, but it is a constant interaction between the in-
dividual and the environment which are reciprocally built and deter-
mined. The roles of the teacher and the student, therefore, change: a
teacher can collaborate with his students in order to facilitate the con-
struction of the meaning for the pupil. Learning becomes, therefore,
a mutual experience for both parties, an active process of sharing and
participation, always remembering that at the centre of the learning
process there is the learner. The definition of Antonio Cosentino in
this regard seems illuminating: (Autonomy
in learning and interpreta-
tion of philosophical texts
, in “Philosophical Communication”, no. 6,
November 1999) “
Constructivism (...) turns its attention to the mental ac-
tivities of the learner and, more specifically, to socio-culturalism, the cultural
practices that take place in the environment. A teaching method consistent
with these assumptions points to the development of the ability to investigate
the processes of cognitive construction by which we read the world and we
produce meanings. There isn’t a ready-made subject and object dealing in the
process of learning, but rather there is a process by which a subject is formed,
actively internalizing life forms and meanings that circulate in the cultural
context in which it is situated. At the same time this external-internal dialec-
tic, due to the multiplicity and variety of situations it has to come to terms,
has unpredictable ways of emerging leaving room for creativity”
. Learning,
conceived in its highest realisation, is what happens in a context-class
dominated by positive relationships, in constant relation and medi-
ation with others, so as to become a continuous experience in con-
tact with differences and diversities possibly leading to transform its
inner world, its points of view. We will shortly examine the strong
link between the socio-cultural constructivist theory of knowledge
and the discovery of the mirror neurons, as it emphasises the impor-
tance of building a school conceived as a laboratory, like “gyms for
thought”, to quote Papert, creating new learning environments, with
new languages and new technological tools for the development of
intelligence and skills. Collaborative and cooperative learning should
be developed together with the others when they have the tools and