Constructivism and Active Didactics

Recently there has been a growing wave of local initiatives in support of their public schools. Teachers and communities together have been playing an active role in the innovative efforts towards new educational methods aimed at helping schools. These grass root experiments, though very effective, tend to go unnoticed in the wide scheme of the educational system. However, if the most useful and meaningful of these initiatives could be fostered and developed, they may have the possibility of transforming it. This book is collects the most significant educational achievements carried out by teachers, school administrators and local associations working together with public institutions, from primary school to university, in a form that can be used by both scholars and people involved in improving the education system. Didactic Strategies and Technologies for Education: Incorporating Advancements aims to be a platform for the most significant educational achievements by teachers, school administrators, and local associations that have worked together in public institutions that range from primary school to the university level. This book aims to be useful for both scholars and the citizens that are involved in improving the educational system. In this publication, after a general introduction, an analysis is offered of the experiences documented in the book using different criteria. The aim of this section is to analyse the quality of the various contributions from a pedagogical point of view: on one hand the school level at which the documented experiences are distributed; on the other according to some macro-criteria which have been considered fundamental in the educational field. The section is curated by the Educational Technologies Research Group of the University of Bologna, Italy, Department of Education. Chapter 1, curated by Elena Pacetti, analyses the set of documented experiences in detail starting from the different educational contexts and school levels. Chapter 2, curated by Luigi Guerra, analyses the contributions according to the criterion of constructivism and active didactics. Chapter 3, curated by Elena Pacetti, analyses the experiences according to the criterion of didactic innovation and ICTs. Chapter 4, curated by Manuela Fabbri, examines the experiences according to the criterion of inclusion and didactic innovation. Finally Chapter 5, curated by Federica Zanetti, considers the contributions according to the criterion of the relationship between school and community in a perspective of education to citizenship. An overview of the chapters in the publication (Elena Pacetti) Constructivism and active didactics (Luigi Guerra) Teaching innovation and ICT: qualifying the educational experience (Elena Pacetti) Inclusion and didactic innovation (Manuela Fabbri) The relationship between school and the local community: a view to education to citizenship and active citizenship (Federica Zanetti)