The new methodological and deontological position of the teacher

The new methodological and deontological position of the teacher

The coordinators of curricula in the field of national histories in SEEC are confronted to the problem of harmonizing the historical information to be transmitted to new generations envisaged to be part of a more homogenous European population. Another issue of concern is connected to the way of various ethnic or confessional majorities or minorities in the region are able to recompose their clear points of view when they have to meditate on certain historical events. In many cases of this type, these groups encountered the difficulty to be opposed in the past and still face problems of mutual representation each from another.

There is a high expectation that various problematic contexts of this type are to be revealed by the school. Also, we enable the school to contribute to the acceleration of the resolution of inter-ethnic or inter-confessional conflicts as new generations are accumulating a significant different training and educational experience.

Within the school, the various generations are to find the best conditions for using a social time; its transforming value depends on the equal levels of freedom and participation of whom is instructing and who is teaching. In this respect, we have to observe that the role of the teachers to be stressed in SEE various ethnic communities concern the need to dissolve the reasons of former conflicts, mostly perpetrated through false perceptions on formerly rival groups/nations. It is essential that the teachers feel really free from authoritarian constrictions and able to propose critical readings of the various controversial historical facts. Only through challenging debates it is possible to open a so called black box and re-discuss apparent undisputable topics.

In order to fundament, to promote and to achieve a radical methodological reform in the way of involving the teaching/learning of history within the SEE national curricula, we propose first of all to consecrate, to support and to consolidate the rights of students to a general emancipation which help them to harmonize them according to an increasingly complex society (cf. the terminology used by Edgar Morin). In this way, they will enjoy when more and more social actors will benefit of a know-how/knowledge and attitudes, in view of their real needs and social requirements.

From this perspective, we should not concentrate so much anymore on the formalistic environment of the various subjects or their organsiation within complex knowledge. Our new radical need concerns the relational ability aimed to be acquired through academic practices able to assume the objective of co-participation and co-operation, much more than the traditional objectives of the curricular learning. In such context, the teacher is to assume the new task as facilitator of knowledge. She/he is to play the innovative role of representing of a social actor who is not looking for the scientific truth, but only the consensual towards a new common institution.

In order to generate this new perspective, the teacher needs a collaborative and inter-active presence of her/his students. Such a teacher enjoys of the unique freedom - specific to the post-modern era - of looking by herself/himself for needed knowledge in view to exercise her/his own educational freedom. She/he is not to implement a deontology on the natural body of pupils/students. Such a deontology proved to be unable to mange a moral relationship with the pupils, unrecognized by for their transformability and potential evolution.

Prof Vito D'Armento
University of Lecce- Italy