Scuola e alfabetizzazione in Italia. Caratteri e limiti di una correlazione spuria

Abstract

The functional alphabetical competence and the competence in the matter of citizenship are closely interconnected in the training of the young person: their close functional link is well expressed and well-argued by the Recommendations of the Council of the European Union (in particular from that of 2018) within the general framework of key competences for learning, but in reality it occupies a strand of western thought that goes back so far as to be considered traditional, and takes up ideas and proposals advanced in the last half century mainly by Tullio De Mauro, through the principles of democratic linguistic education. The current cultural climate brings to the fore the link between language and citizenship and outlines a framework of educational obligations which the school cannot escape. But an examination of the limits and difficulties of the Italian school leads to downsizing the most advanced objectives, while aiming to respect the basic objectives indicated by the Council of the European Union. In conclusion, we propose a Decalogue of operational choices that take into account both the essential objectives that cannot be renounced and the current difficulties of the Italian school.