Nuove vie della ricerca teorico-pratica in pedagogia. I temi dell’autoformazione come autobiografia

A fundamental feature in the experience of the contemporary character is the discovery that he cannot be considered the Author of his history, in a proper sense. But, in some way, he can become the owner of it when he tells his story: therefore he produces an autobiography. The autobiography is a research field still largely unexplored: (i) it is made of a lot of the texts, stemming not only from the autobiographical masterpiece of world literature, but mainly from autobiographical material produced by the everyday person who feels the need to tell their own life, to make a bit in order for an assessment or a restarting after a failure, and (ii) these texts talk about subjective experiences of which is not easy to provide a concise and objective interpretation. In this sense this is a not exhaustive investigation about the autobiography in the education. In the classic sense of the autobiography, it have always been part of the tools of education (memoirs, diaries, confessions), but it is only in more recent studies, that the autobiography is considered a method of education in itself. Through this method it is possible to review and relive the many ‘himself’ that they have been in the past, linking them in a chronological sequence that reconstructs the story of his own life, seeking that one thing that is worth trying: the meaning of their own life. At the basis of the method, there are psychological theories of cognitivist who admit the existence of a narrative thinking, that is the cognitive mode through which people give a structure to the experiences and exchanges with the social reality and express it in the form of short stories or narratives. In order to understand how the narrative thinking works, ten fundamental properties of the narrative are analyzed, as suggested by Bruner. This allows to introduce the elements and the structure of narrative text from a syntactic point of view only. According to the rules of "schema theory" and the "grammar of stories", the person already have a mindset such that, even with missing details, he will be able to reconstruct the entire sequence of events using his general knowledge of the situation and the activation of patterns easily available and accessible to memory. Memory, therefore, is regarded not only as a storehouse of information, but also as the place where realizing the process of understanding both of events and personal narrative texts. In conclusion, if past experience is told or written, it is structured according to the grammar and syntax of the language, is revised in accordance with the rules of discourse and communication and reshaped according to the recipient and the purpose of communication . The narrative then is an essential component of the social, cultural and formative of the individual and the ability to understand and produce stories is a skill that grows and evolves over the life of the person. Such skills, since they invest the individual life, right from the early childhood, contribute to the construction of personal and cultural identity. The stories are a way of knowing but also to transform themselves, from a language that at first is "for themselves," a language "for others". The particular narrative form with which experiences and personal memories for others are structured, is known as the "autobiography", which means "life of an individual described by himself." It comes, therefore, to examine the autobiography as a formative method because it is founded on the principle of "tell to understand each other”, and having as its foundation the "building of meaning"and the attribution of meaning to the experience of the individual. The autobiography, inviting the person to look at the past and at the same time, look at the future, becomes both the path of "care" that path of "continuous learning and unrestrainable". It also increases the capacity of self-reflective and allow to listen to the personal emotions realizing their own cognitive abilities. In this manner, the educational plan of action focuses on teaching "self-education of each person," which emphasizes the importance of learning to reflect mainly "with and about themselves" to promote their potentials, to acquire as soon as possible intellectual independence by encouraging even human relationships. [edited by Author]