Università Roma Tre

Autobiography: educational and socio-political models, practices and implications
Autobiographical writing, self-narration, appear to be rich in formative, emancipatory, reflective-critical implications. At the basis of them, we can identify a radical need for self-expression, a "giving shape", a making oneself recognizable, to oneself and to others, thus making "recognition" a key category of identity development, which it calls in question the intimately social, relational (and, as we shall see, political) nature of every "private", individual, intimate narrative. The autobiography is, therefore, first of all "need", but also, then, method and model. And such it has become within the pedagogical and formative practices that, in recent decades, have taken shape, starting from the daily, "anonymous" dimension of telling oneself. Think of the experience of the Memorial Archives in Pieve Santo Stefano, up to the Free University of Autobiography, at Anghiari. Within this perspective, the category of memory, personal and collective, has an essential importance and the theme of autobiographical narration could not ignore, as I have pointed out, the conceptions of memory developed by Bergson and in particular by Maurice Halbwachs: the latter, elaborated the principle of the "social frameworks" of memory, highlighting the decisive role that the contexts of reference have in the very formation of our personal identities and in the very mechanisms of remembering, redefining oneself, "re-writing oneself", "re-knowing oneself" ( but see also the studies by Pierre Norà, Franco-Algerian author, on "places of memory" and "ego-histoire"). We are therefore also in the field of adult education, and the reference to Malcolm Knowles is a must, but we are also in the field of social, historical and political experiences of great significance, which, during the twentieth century and beyond, have marked our history. Both those that refer to the American sociology of the Chicago School (think of the studies on Anderson's "Hobos", or on the youth "gangs" of Cohen and Trasher, or on migrants, of Thomas and Znaniecki, etc.), and those connected to African American culture in the U.S.A. (from the ethno-anthropological research on blues music and the bluesmen of Alan Lomax, to the most direct and emblematic expressions of the identity and political claim: see the Autobiography of Malcolm X) or to the cultures of native Indians (Bruce Trigger among all). Without forgetting the crucial role played, in Great Britain, by sociologists / educators such as Raymond Williams, Richard Hoggarth, Stuart Hall, founders of "Cultural Studies" (both with regard to the notion of "culture" and with regard to the use of the autobiographical method , etc.). But Italy has also known very significant experiences of a real "social and political pedagogy", thanks to authors such as Nuto Revelli, Danilo Montaldi, Danilo Dolci, educators fully deployed on the front of the struggles for emancipation of the subordinate classes and proponents of experiences and methodologies which, precisely in their "experiences" and "life stories", have drawn crucial elements on the front of good practices and theoretical and political elaborations. Not to forget, again, the educational experience "on the field" of the masters, and Mario Lodi and Bruno Ciari have been precious examples, also on the basis of the French experiences of Jacques and Mona Ozouf.
Autobiographical practices and existential and professional turning points
Certainly the autobiographical method can have its crucial role in the professional-working environment, where it is a question of "re-reading" oneself and one's wealth of experience, knowledge, skills, in view of a redefinition of oneself in the field of professional "retraining". It is obvious that such processes always involve at least three aspects of personal identity: 1) the more intimate one connected to the "representation of oneself", imbued with affective, cognitive, imaginative values, which is played on the level of a dialectic between what I am and what I would like to be, in the light of what I have been 2) That of a social nature, related to my "being for others", and therefore also to how others see myself, which feeds on of my life, of a series of expectations (family, social, work, etc.) that my social environment of reference creates for me, and which in turn is received by me, always within a dialectic between adhesion / conflict 3) That of an eminently professional / working matrix which, especially in the current "liquid" condition, to use Bauman's words, marked by flexibility, precariousness, sudden dynamics of change, forces the person to a constant process of revision, re-adaptation and possible new developments of the acquired knowledge / skills, in view of a redefinition of one's professional role.
In this sense, it is essential to be able to enhance the entire complex of one's experiences and knowledge, not only those already partially formalized (through study and work), but also the "informal", potential, expressive, relational ones that can become a source or an experiential basin to be put to use in new configurations and professional / working "adventures". These three moments, personal, social, professional (which are always, intrinsically, also "political", relating to life in a polis), obviously always appear intertwined and full of affective / cognitive / relational implications and this means that, for for example, the abrupt interruption of a work experience always has consequences and effects that concern all three levels (personal, social, professional), on the ground of an even profound "crisis" of the "self-representation", of one's role family, sexual, social, etc. This also means that, if we want to be realistic, the whole discourse on autobiography as a method of professional re-orientation always arises from critical situations, of setback, of difficulty (almost the opposite ...), of loss. What is interrupted is the linearity of one's entire existential path, not just professional. Obviously, to see it in constructive terms, and in a perspective of self-training and life-long learning, it is good to try to seize in these critical phases of life also occasions and opportunities for emancipation, professional development, working on oneself and on one's own. background of knowledge / knowledge / skills within a re-constructive path (but also, firstly, sometimes de-constructive) that is accompanied by a constant "exercise of reflexivity". This reflexive attitude (see in particular this notion in Anthony Giddens), must, in a certain sense, become a "habitus" for us, a "mindset", and becomes crucial within a perspective of self-formation and continuous learning. All this discourse, however, must find a common thread, a foundation and horizon of meaning in what? In the narrative dimension, in that "narrative principle" which is, as Bruner wrote, exactly the structural device that allows the child to construct himself and his own horizon of reality at the same time. Our personal identity is, structurally, "narrative" (on this one could see Paul Ricoeur, as well as Bruner, but not only), because man is, constitutively, "an animal that tells stories", or a "symbolic animal (Cassirer), or hermeneutic, etc. And the original impulse that connects to this structural narrative tendency of the person is that linked to "giving meaning" "seeking meaning", finding motivations and vital reasons in what one is and what one is Here, then, that the discourse linked to the autobiographical method as a tool / modality of professional re-orientation, passes through the constant and essential reference to such being able to and knowing how to re-narrate, redefine narratively. Even the possession of a secure job, sometimes, if it is not accompanied by our adherence to it on the ground of "meaning", "motivation", etc., it can end up alienating us, perhaps pushing us to want to project ourselves onto very different spaces and work paths, which can satisfy usnot only on the economic side, but also on that of personal fulfillment. But, beyond this optimistic case, narration as an autobiographical method can be useful precisely when it is a question, instead, of having to constantly change the "story of oneself", prompted by even traumatic or unexpected changes. Autobiography, therefore, is self-orientation, it is an educational and formative practice for the person, which carries within itself a constant action of reconstruction of meanings, within a dialectic of reflexivity that calls into question a "narrating ego" and a " I narrated or of which it is narrated ", which places the horizon of everyday life in continuous interaction with the more intimate, ideal one, always within a socially shared space in which my personal memories are intertwined with collective memories, with social pictures of memories (Maurice Halbwachs). There is, in fact, a profound link between personal identity and memory, and the narrative principle is its essential link. But every process of re-enactment, re-reading, re-construction of oneself never happens, only, in one's own inner self, but is intrinsically socialized.
Exercises in autobiography
The practice of writing and autobiographical reflection has become, in the last 40 years, more and more central in the reflections of all social and human disciplines. There has been an immense application work that has allowed numerous variations of the autobiographical system within research practices and, perhaps even more significantly, clinical or service or training practices.
This extraordinary heuristic and applicative expansion has also been matched by a significant multiplication of scientific studies, including empirical ones, which have repeatedly shown a positive correlation of autobiographical practices with improvements in the conditions of those who have undertaken them. By way of example, among the thousands of studies available, we can recall here the analyzes carried out by Daniel Siegel (The relational mind. Neurobiology of interpersonal experience, Milan, Cortina, 2013), which show both the clinical benefits and the neurophysiological repercussions of the use of devices centered on autobiography.
Both our theoretical beliefs and these numerous findings lead us to believe that, at the beginning of the training path of a kindergarten or primary school teacher, to practice what is studied in the teaching work path, a didactic workshop centered on the practice of autobiographical writing.
A historical theoretical introduction on the models of autobiographical writing will be followed by short group works for a comparison between peers. Finally, one or more real autobiographical writing exercises, to which the teachers will provide feedback.

Lecture notes provided by teachers