ABSTRACT
From the 1950s to the 1970s, Danilo Dolci’s activities through the Centre for Studies and Initiatives were aimed at identifying and analysing collective needs by involving the people who experienced them and directly involving these participants in developing appropriate solutions. This process was carried out using the Reciprocal Maieutics Approach, a popular dialectic methodology for research and self-analysis. After focusing on improving economic prospects and the social fabric, Dolci and his collaborators decided to tackle the issues they had identified in the educational system, particularly its authoritarian, classist and transmissive character. The Mirto Educational Centre – created together with community members, including children – allowed them to experience the importance of authentic listening and an intimate understanding of different points of view. This experience made it possible to generate a genuine transformative process and activate reciprocal education dynamics, thanks to the power of the Reciprocal Maieutic Approach (RMA).
