The independent living for people with disabilities as a “practice of freedom”.

The aim of my actual research is to identify the main characteristics of the term “educational poverty” (Save the children, 2016) to open the possibility to conceive poverty as a concrete phenomenon and a problem related to the quality of educational experiences (Dewey, 1937) that limit the possibility (for children and adults) “to learn, experiment, develop and freely foster their capacities, talents and aspirations” (Save the Children, 2017). To address that, I think it could be interesting to explore innovative solutions to help people to express themselves, going further their apparent inability, as Paulo Freire taught (1968). So, the paper aims to present a summary of reflections about the topic of adulthood for people with disabilities, in the light of education as a “practice of freedom” (Freire, 1968). Taking into account some of Freire’s themes, it is possible to end up with a pedagogical frame for this issue and for the term “educational poverty”. The dissertation will develop three main aspects. Oppressed and oppression At first, it is important to make people with disabilities aware of the opportunity to have wishes and a project of life as adults. As in the Brazilian author’s view this step is the milestone to create a real change. When the consciousness about the oppression become clear, it is possible to go further. The paper will give evidence to the main conceptual difficulties to conceive people with disabilities as adults in the Italian context. To be aware about their status as oppressed, people with disabilities need to face the oppression of social representations about an assumed “neverending childhood” for them (Lepri, 2016) and, as consequence, nearly homogeneous educative opportunities between 18 and 65 years old. A dialogical action As second step, the paper will show as the process of awareness can be supported by social workers, who realize a dialogical educative action. It is a challenge for their creativity and their ability to act with people with disabilities and not for them. The dialogical option stresses the importance to deal with a specific “human-world relationship” (Freire, 1968) and the opportunity to find the proper words and communication strategies to support the practice of freedom. In this case, the educational process as dialogical action can bring to shape an adult role in actual society for people with disabilities. Educators can organize specific experiences, with proper mediators (Canevaro, 2008). It is also very important the creation of small self-determination experiences (Cottini, 2016) to support the development of adulthood day by day. Those experiences will be read as “generative themes”, using Freire’s words. A cultural synthesis The third point will deal with the necessity to make all society aware about this process. The Convention on the Rights of Persons with disabilities seems to be central in that. It is important to spread the sense of that Chart in the general community, starting from families and social services. The paper will take into account the “social representation” of disability (Medeghini, D’Alessio, Vadalà, 2013) as a reference point to improve a cultural synthesis of the topic of adulthood for people with disabilities. The central idea for my discussion is that, in the Italian context, it is necessary a general social consciousness to make people with disabilities aware of their opportunity to take part of society as adults. Reading this topic in the light of the pedagogy of oppressed (oppressed and oppression; a dialogical action; a cultural synthesis) can generate a turning point in the sense of a common learning for people with disabilities, their families and the community as a whole. At the same time, this dissertation, as a mirror, aims to be a first step to build a theoretical frame for a pedagogical reconstruction of the term “educational poverty” as a phenomenon of awareness and social responsibility.