Editorial

A success for the study day aimed at teachers and school managers organized by the Leonardo da Vinci school in Colleferro entitled "DADA model, experiences, reflections, perspectives". The Colleferrina school has become a point of reference for other schools in the Region for having been ahead of its time in using the new teaching model which is receiving undisputed appreciation and particular appreciation from students and parents.

On April 29th, at the "Leonardo da Vinci" lower secondary school of the "Margherita Hack" IC, a day of study for teachers and school managers entitled “DADA model, experiences, reflections, perspectives".

The DS Dr. Maria Giuffrè organized and strongly supported this day of sharing and discussion, open to schools from all over Lazio and other regions. An opportunity to reflect and discuss the model of Teaching for Learning Environments, also used by the school "Leonardo da Vinci" and towards which various institutes are increasingly looking with great curiosity and interest. We had already explored the innovative teaching model in one of our editorials: “The revolutionary “DADA model” at the “Leonardo da Vinci” of Colleferro for an Always Open School”.

The day was characterized by the presence of first-rate speakers starting from the creators and co-founders of the DADA model, Lidia Cangemi e Ottavio Fattorini and by the extraordinary presence of the professor Italo Fiorin, President of the Higher Education School "Educating for Encounter and Solidarity" (EIS) of theLUMSA University of Rome. 

Moderator of the meetings is Dr Roberta Camarda, president of the Lazio Section of the National Society of Dabate Italia Aps.

The event began with the opening speech of Ottavio Fattorini, in which theprocess necessary and the preparatory steps for schools to join and be included among the DADA institutions, a construct defined by the 10 principles (5 postulates and 5 characteristics) set out in the Manifesto (www.scuoledada.it).

A follow Lidia Cangemi he shared with all the participants, as in a travel diary, some of his reflections that emerged ten years after the birth of the nei model “Kennedy” and “Labriola” high schools in Rome. He recalled that, even if the best-known aspect of DADA is the creation of disciplinary classrooms and the movement that reactivates the children's attention, the cornerstone of the model is the concept of Community, which starting from the local context must then be able to broaden its range of action to universities, museums, network schools and so on.

This broadening of the prospective vision must start first of all from the concept of QCA (What We Have), which must guide us to the valorisation of what surrounds us, especially human capital, and then project us into a continuous perspective of improvement, which puts at the center is the valorization of diversity, inclusion and the centrality of the person. The flexibility of the classroom environments and of every school space, starting from the atriums, becomes an extension of a pedagogical vision based on relational and emotional learning, an approach that is now essential for teaching. Emotion, awareness, empathy, ability to identify, reflection, light-heartedness, fun, love of knowledge is what the DADA model wants to spread in the field of Spanish education system, for bridge the gap with i best performers Europeans, improve and increase the academic success of each student, promoting effective motivational and learning dynamics for the acquisition of study skills Lifelong Learning.

The speech of the prof. Italo Fiorin “EDUCATE THE FEELING". The Service-Learning proposal”. Professor Fiorin underlined that “the school is faced with two great challenges: the lack of thought and the lack of meaning. Already years ago Edgar Morin (French sociologist, philosopher and essayist ed.) highlighted the importance of educating to 'think complexity', as an antidote to the impoverishment of thought, the spread of populism, the risks of manipulation. Educating in thinking represents an urgency, in a period in which the crisis of democracies is evident. The metaphor of the 'well-made head', which today is proposed again and contrasted with the 'well-filled head', describes this perspective well. …However one thing “It's knowing, it's one thing to understand, another thing to take a stand and act” (H. Arendt) … how to give meaning to learning. The pedagogical proposal of Service-Learning offers a convincing answer. There are five verbs that describe a Service-Learning itinerary in suggestive terms, highlighting how education in critical thinking and responsible action is intertwined: Encounter (reality), Understand (the problems), Act (to offer a contribution in solidarity), Reflect (to learn more), Express (to communicate what has been experienced, understood, felt). These verbs form an amazing acronym: I CARE".

Subsequently, the very interesting and stimulating interventions of the other speakers were presented to Professor Fiorin: “Promoting well-being: synergies with the territory for an open school”, of the DS of the IC Margherita Hack, location of the conference, la Dr. Maria Giuffrè; “The DADA model for the development of skills: the pedagogical-didactic perspective”and Dr. Rosaria Capobianco, of the Federico II University of Naples; “The evaluation of learning as enhancement of the person”, of Antonella Arnaboldi, DS of the “San Nilo” IC of Grottaferrata; “Discovering the dimensions of DADA”, of Marcellus Bianchi, of the DS of the IIS “Gold Medal, City of Cassino; “At Service Learning school: good practices speak for themselves”, of Simone Delivered, from LUMSA University; “Maria Montessori, playful learning and the DADA model: connections and synergies”, of Riccarda Garra, DS of the “Giuseppe Garibaldi” IC of Genzano; “An inclusive compass for DADA”, di Valeria Quintiliani, teacher at the IC “San Nilo” of Grottaferrata and Tuttoscuola trainer; “Color Color…DADA! “The magic of QCA at nursery and primary school”, of Chiara Fabiani, teacher at the IC “San Nilo” in Grottaferrata; “Didactic experiences in learning environments: the “humanistic” area di Elvio Calderoni, teacher of the IC “Nettuno IV”.

The presence of the Mayor is important Pierluigi Sanna, who with his participation in the opening of the works, demonstrated the constant support for a school that wants to promote an educational path that increasingly roots it in the territory, making it a tool for preventing and combating educational poverty.

A significant day, full of testimonies of good practices but also of hopes and educational projects so that school can be the place dedicated to personal development and growth, promoting the well-being of the individual and the entire community, empathetic relationships, happiness of the individual.