Pedagogical knowledge between authority and otherness: scenarios for a democratic school

Abstract

The paper explores the epistemological framework implicitly embedded in the 2025 National Curriculum Guidelines, questioning the underlying conception of knowledge, subjectivity, and educational relationships. Drawing on the epistemology of complexity, critical pedagogy, and theories of situated knowledge, the contribution aims to reconstruct the shift from a dialogical and generative curriculum towards a prescriptive and performance-oriented model.

The cultural discontinuity with the 2012–2018 Guidelines is also examined as a key element for critical analysis, prompting reflection on the role of education, the vertical structuring of knowledge, and the relational dimension of schooling. In this perspective, the paper proposes a re-conceptualization of the curriculum as an epistemic and democratic infrastructure—capable of safeguarding the plurality of knowledge and human experiences—thus fostering an embodied, dialogical, and critical pedagogical understanding, essential in today’s educational landscape.