The good democratic school: a reflection on the relevance of the Montessori pedagogical model
Barbara De Serio
Subsequently to a reflection on some critical aspects of recent reform of Italian school, the contribution analyzes the democratic character that beyond any political and educational ideology should characterize the institution school in every historical period. It describes progressive school models and analyzes the scientific principles of the Montessori pedagogical theory. In a transversal perspective to educational practices commonly used in schools, this method is considered a possible tool to form in children and teens a creative and critical thinking, democratic and cooperative. The paper describes, in particular, the secondary school reform plan designed, in the thirties of the twentieth century, by Maria Montessori and unfortunately remained unfinished. The Montessori reform intended to give to school the character of "educational community", in which the student could gain important activities, group work and professional experiences to learn principals social relationship with the outside world.
Keywords
School, democracy, Montessori method
