Il dibattito regolamentato: una pratica formativa per lo sviluppo del pensiero critico nel sistema di istruzione italiano

The research project conducted as part of the Ph.D. course made it possible to analyze a highly innovative and exciting topic. In particular, it investigated the use of regulated debate as an educational methodology, assessing its implications at a pedagogical level for shaping the personalities and individualities of future world citizens. Indeed, the systematic and constructive approach of regulated debate makes it possible to relate to the complex issues of society, thus representing a methodology of high educational value. The first chapter of the following work starts with an analysis of the pedagogy of dialogue and the close relationship between critical thinking and argumentative and dialogical competence; in fact, it discusses the guiding principles of the pedagogical theories that guide the valorization of the dialogical and communicative aspect in education and training found in the conception advocated by numerous pedagogues up to analyzing the epistemology of regulated debate considered in absolute terms, through the thought of many scholars such as Lipman, who have focused on the relationship between critical thinking and communicative action. Next, the impacts of regulated debate from a pedagogical perspective are considered and, subsequently, the chapter focuses on analyzing the intrinsic relationship between the practice of debate as a human activity throughout history and the dynamics that generated it. The historical excursus, from which the in-depth study takes its cue, evokes the emergence of debate as an art of speaking that originated in the heart of our culture and then spread progressively. This historical path, which finds its foundations in the great figures of ancient Greek and Latin civilization, runs through the medieval and modern centuries up to the 19th century. The second chapter provides an in-depth study of regulated debate as an educational practice, investigating its pedagogical-didactical characteristics, the formats and protocols envisaged, and its applications also at an international level. It starts with a critical analysis of the general characteristics of regulated debate, the visual dimension of the active involvement of the student, who is considered in the process as an active builder of his or her knowledge; then a comparative analysis of the various existing debate protocols are included, starting with the World Schools Debate, the most widely used protocol at international level. At the end of the chapter, there is a paragraph concerning the role that the teacher must assume in designing and conducting a regulated debate, analyzing the skills and strategies that can lead to effective teaching. Furthermore, an example of instructional design involving the use of debate for a fifth-grade primary school class is presented. In the third chapter, empirical experiences of the use of regulated debate are presented, starting with the first cycle of education, moving on to the second grade, and ending with the experiences carried out at Italian universities. The fourth chapter focuses on the figure of the judge teacher, who assumes a fundamental role in the promotion of citizenship education. It outlines the training provided and the technical skills that are essential to playing this crucial role in the success of a regulated debate. At the end of the chapter are the results of a questionnaire that was administered to teachers in Italy who act as judges in the most widely recognized competitions, intending to investigate the type of training they have undergone, the level of competence they have achieved and how they use regulated debate in their daily teaching practice. In fact, for regulated debate to be considered a practice with strong educational value, it is indispensable that it enables the level of learning achieved by the students to be assessed by specific objectives defined and programmed at the ministerial level. The chapter includes examples of assessment rubrics for primary schools, secondary schools, and universities.