Premesse per una pedagogia del lavoro: l'apprendistato come forma strutturale

Abstract

The essay develops a series of reflections, also historical, aimed at the epistemological definition of a “work education”, considered as a potential scientific discipline, starting from its theoretical limits and its limited academic development in the present time. Assuming that education, in general, constitutes the «means of social continuity of life through its constant renewal» (according to a classical definition of J. Dewey), the A. identifies four constant and interconnected elements, in the intergenerational dynamics that determine the educational process: knowledge, social skills, the autonomy of conduct and work. The “work education” is thus defined as a “theory of the educability of the person through labour”, and in this sense as “a theory of training for work”. The job/profession is also defined mostly as an assumption of personal responsibility, in which the necessary knowledge and skills must always find new syntheses, which also include the motivations and attitudes specifically required by each job. The ethical dimension of the personal responsibility determines the continuous application of the precautionary principle in every working environment. In light of these premises the A. introduces the analysis of the phenomenology of apprenticeship, also focusing on its presence in the history of education. Apprenticeship is considered not only a real teaching model, but also a structural form of the educational experience. The analysis of its individual elements, conducted in the text and pedagogically re-interpreted, can determine the contemporary re-design of this form, in the light of new understandings of its internal functionality. Also the internship, today provided in high academic education, must be recognized as a form of apprenticeship. Other meaningful aspects are: the analysis of the experience of the tutor/trainer, in the dynamics of apprenticeship, in terms of solidarity/rivalry; the theme of the “perceived preciousness”, in the object as well as in the subject of education; the theme of the “inclusive selection” and the continuous and mutual “testing” between tutor and trainee. The A. declares her belief that a real apprenticeship experience, as well as being formative for the trainee/apprentice, should be formative for his/her instructor/tutor.