Education and politics: The education of citizens obtained through the exercise of active citizenship

Abstract

The human being develops thanks to her relationship with their conspecifics.
Thanks to this relation, she obtains a given cultural heritage and
acquires her own identity, thus differentiating herself and finding her own space of freedom and autonomy that enables her to interact and extend her own network of relations. This process of reciprocity allows the human being to realize herself as conscious member of a “social body,” namely a radical society within an organic human context—a context that has nowadays become global, as a consequence of new migratory fluxes and of newly increasing economic inter-dependence.
Education is a thread in human civilization and makes it possible to transform the spaces where anonymity, fear, consumerism, prejudice, haste, indifference, subjugation, insecurity and solitudes take place. As a consequence of transformation, these spaces become characterized by acceptance, trust, sharing, safety, friendship, kinship. The models of political education that used to prevail are the following ones: the academic model—in which a huge amount of notions are debated and explained—and the laboratory model—which bends towards operational politics, by making use of workshops and simulations.
It is now widespread the social need to provide everybody—and young people in particular—with foundational socio-political information and with evaluative tools that are historically well-established. These latter instruments should allow for a comparison of different socio-political traditions and frameworks, thus stimulating a renewed commitment that is conscious
of the increasing difficulties faced when implementing policies. It is
necessary to found again a political culture and provide it with a new direction— for example, by matching ideals and administrative experience and by supporting it through a dynamic reflection that is open and capable of understanding the current events.