A Naples the first school to become street teachers: a path of educational cooperation of 'dispersed' youth
Being a street teacher means standing beside those who live in conditions of social marginalization. But until today, no one formally taught how to become one: with the project “Scuola al Cubo”, financed by the Prosolidar Foundation, the Maestri di strada association is starting the first experimental cycle to train the street teachers of tomorrow.
One year, six hundred hours of in-person lessons, but also distance learning and internships: an open and complex system based on educational cooperation, generally excluded from academic programs. But to be a street teacher, knowing how to teach is not enough, you need something different., explains Santa Parrello, scientific director of the school.
The aim of the school will not only be to provide a formal qualification, although the course will be accredited on the SOFIA platform of the Ministry of Education, "my – continues Parrello – to provide a substantial 'equipment' indispensable for anyone who wants to dedicate himself to improving himself and the world through the education of young people and especially of the 'dispersed'”.
In concrete terms, during the year the path will develop following four thematic areas that will constitute the basic course: developmental psychology and educational psychology, psychology of groups and institutions, active and participatory pedagogies, community psychology, research and evaluation. An educational model that will include, among other things, participation and self-evaluation as a fundamental tool for growth.
To be repeated, once the title of street teacher has been obtained, also in the role of teachers. The course, in short, does not come by chance, but is the result of a reflection that has matured over time, as Cesare Moreno, president of Maestri di scuola, active for twenty years now, explains: “Education in a complex society is a difficult undertaking. This banal truth has struggled to find its way into the education and training systems of Europe and only in recent years has reference been made – often only verbal – to educational communities and territorial systems capable of promoting comprehensive education: a city that educates and is educated by its young inhabitants”.
The association has always been concerned with putting the care of those who 'care' at the center of its work, through the ongoing training of its educators, but only now will their commitment be recognized institutionally. To enroll in the school, which will be named after the schoolteacher Carla Melazzini, there will be time until April 25, but the start is scheduled between June and July.
There are 20 places available and it will be necessary to reach a minimum of ten people to form the class. Finally, there are five scholarships: they will be intended for very young people, aged 18 to 25, who have already participated as recipients-interlocutors in the projects of the Street Masters and who have taken part in other training courses in the last two years.
Article published on 8 April 2022 - 18:25
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