Responsabilità delle scienze pedagogiche nello strutturarsi della forma mentis dei formatori degli adulti. Piste di ricerca colte dai miti della formazione e dall’epistemologia della prassi

Those who work as trainers have the responsibility towards others, themselves and the society. Here we deal with some of the responsibilities of pedagogical sciences in following the mindset structure of adult educators. Each trainer has his own culture of education (Bruner), which develops primarily through reflection on the training actions implemented "on the field". Not only structured readings, but also "pedagogical vulgate" (more or less reliable, some of which are peculiar of Adult education – EDA) feed this culture of education. The text begins with the myth – a classic for anyone involved in adult education – of the juxtaposition of Pedagogy and Andragogy (Knowles). It then goes on to exploring some of the myths of the EDA that are located in the semantic space of terms such as: self-training, self-study, self-directed learning. Over these issues we propose some reflections by a medieval author – Thomas Aquinas – to test the heuristic power that can be the comparison with a "classic" who has developed his ideas in times and contexts different from ours. Specific responsibility of pedagogical sciences is to contribute to build up a "virtuous circle" between theory and practice, so that the knowledge on the situation – in practice – would be positively reflected in theory, but it could also be examined critically. This will help to appreciate the active competences, but also to avoid misunderstandings that some myths and vulgate are likely to generate.