L'Italia nella mente e nel cuore della pedagogia spagnola, iberoamericana e africana. Risultati di un convegno (Università di Salamanca, 4-6 giugno 2014)

In recent years, the Faculty of Education in the University of Salamanca (Department of Education History and Theory) has become the driving force behind a remarkable quantity of cultural events and initiatives. These include «pedagogical conferences» held with a view to analysing the numerous traces left among the rich heritage that the European nations have bequeathed to the Spanish and Latin-American education systems over the last hundred years. Held every one or two years, each of these conferences provides a forum for wide-reaching, in-depth discussion between scholars and university lecturers, and is accompanied by the publication of a large volume of the proceedings, edited by Professor J.M. Hernández Díaz. Of late, a particular focus of these proceedings has been the European influences on higher education, and the many repercussions of EC rulings, in accordance with the Bologna Process. Research interests have consequently shifted to the various European nations and their relations with the Spanish-speaking world, whether harmonious or characterized by criticism and debate, first France in 2008, then Germany in 2009, Great Britain in 2011, and, most recently, Italy in 2014. The aim of this paper is to sum up the recent conference on the Italian influences, to elucidate not only how and to what extent the pedagogical theories developed in Italy have altered the methodology and praxis of teaching in Spain, Latin-America and Africa, but also which concepts and authors have been better received than others.