Lorenzo Milani, the School of Barbiana and the Struggle for Social Justice

This book sheds light on the work of one of the 20th century’s foremost critical educators, the Italian Lorenzo Milani (1923–1967), on the 90th anniversary of his birth. It provides an exposition and critical analysis of the ideas contained in his writings, ideas that emerged from his experiences in two Tuscan localities. The work of Milani and the School of Barbiana that he directed provide signposts for a critically and sociologically engaged pedagogy. Important themes include education and class politics; education and imperialism; education and the culture of militarization; the collective dimensions of learning and writing; peer tutoring; critical media literacy; and reading history against the grain. These ideas are analyzed with reference to similar and contrasting ideas by other international educators, scholars and thinkers. As the book argues, Milani’s oeuvre contains important ingredients for a social justice-oriented critical pedagogy. The spirit for this pedagogical approach is captured in the School of Barbiana’s motto ‘I care.’

Federico Batini is a researcher at the University of Perugia. Founder and director of a training and guidance agency Pratika (www.pratika.net) and the centre of ideas and cultural productions Nausika (www.narrazioni.it), he is also a senior partner of Theleme (www.theleme.it). He has been dealing with stories and narratives in many formats for the past twenty years. He is working on a project of books and audio books of fairy tales and fables rewritten and adapted in collaboration with modern writers and experts. He has written plays and short stories, edited anthologies and written lyrics. He has devised a method of guidance through story telling called narrative guidance (Per un orientamento narrative, 2000) and has published articles, books, and other materials about this method. His most recent publications include L'orientamento narrativo a scuola. Lavorare sulle competenze per l’orientamento dalla scuola dell’infanzia all’educazione degli adulti (2008); Mettere in circolo. Una ricerca sui circoli di studio: Dalla pratica al metodo (2008); Competenze e diritto all’apprendimento (co-edited with A. Surian, 2008); L’Isola sconosciuta. Un progetto di orientamento narrativo: Metodi e risultati, Storientando: Un progetto e una ricerca con l’orientamento narrativo (with A. Surian, 2008); Storie, futuro e controllo (ed., 2011); Storie e orientamento. Percorsi per l'orientamento narrativo di gruppo (2011), Orientare per non disperdere: le storie siamo noi; Quando i figli scelgono (2011); Comprendere le differenze; Verso una pedagogia dell'identita sessuale (2011); Storie che crescono (2011).
Peter Mayo is Professor in the Department of Education Studies, Faculty of Education, University of Malta. His many books include Gramsci, Freire and Adult Education (1999), subsequently published in translation in six languages; Liberating Praxis (2004), which won an AESA Critics Choice Award in 2005; Learning and Social Difference (with C. Borg, 2006); Adult Education in Malta (2007); Public Intellectuals, Radical Democracy and Social Change: A Book of Interviews (with C. Borg, Peter Lang 2007); Learning with Adults: A Critical Pedagogical Introduction (with L. English, 2007), winner of the 2014 C. Houle Award for outstanding literature in adult education; Politics of Indignation (2012); and Echoes from Freire for a Critically Engaged Pedagogy (2014). He was 2011 winner of the CIES Higher Ed SIG award for best paper in comparative/international Higher Ed. He co-edits Palgrave Macmillan’s book series on postcolonial studies in Education and edits the Sense book series on International Issues in Adult Education. He is co-editor of the refereed journal, Postcolonial Directions in Education.
Alessio Surian is researcher at the University of Padova where he teaches Transformative Learning. He is co-coordinator of the Special Interest Group on Teaching and Learning in Culturally Diverse Settings of the European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction and a member of the executive committee of the World Education Forum. He is the author of several studies on participatory methodologies, collaborative learning and intercultural communication, including ?Mr. Palomar and Youth 2.0: Beyond the Faustian Bargain? (Italian Journal of Sociology of Education, 2014); ?Transformative Learning and Youth Agency within Present and Future Urban Scenarios? (Italian Journal of Sociology of Education, 3, 147–183, 2011); Making a Difference: Learning That Matters (ed.), Diversity Youth Forum, Strasbourg, 2007; and Traveling Cultural Diversity (ed.), British Council–SALTO, London, 2005.