Manuel, Recovering the Sense of the Democratic Movement Through Living Solidarity in Dialogic Literary Gatherings

Abstract

Manuel’s biography shows a valuable process of re-enchantment and belief in the possibility of social change. Manuel was strongly disenchanted with the bureaucratization established in Spain during the transition from the Franco regime to democracy in the mid-70s. He recovered his enchantment with democratic movements through contact with the social and educational movement of adult education in La Verneda (Barcelona) and especially through his participation in the Dialogic Literary Gatherings held in the school for adults. In Manuel’s words, the gathering was the best expression of democracy in the school; it was the democratic experience that he had always imagined. In this outstanding space, he could listen to his friends, who, just like him, had lowly academic backgrounds, and share in the reading of the best universal classic literature. For Manuel, this gathering held the germ of a great debate on social, cultural, and democratic transformation.

Child Well-Being in Times of Confinement: The Impact of Dialogic Literary Gatherings Transferred to Homes

“…Evidence is provided about their effectiveness at all stages of life and in every context where they are implemented in all their diversity: from rural communities, to extremely disadvantaged backgrounds, high-complexity schools, special education centers, children's residential care institutions, adults educational centers or prisons (Pulido-Rodríguez et al, 2015;Alvarez et al, 2016;García-Yeste et al, 2017;Garcia et al, 2018;Rodrigues and Marini, 2018;Duque et al, 2020), to mention a few examples. The implementation of DLGs in said settings has been conducted on-site until confinement, but since the pandemic situation, the schools participating in the study are developing these meetings online, through a video conference platform, providing an opportunity for social contact during lockdown.…”

Adults With Special Educational Needs Participating in Interactive Learning Environments in Adult Education: Educational, Social, and Personal Improvements. A Case Study

“…Finally, our results show that solidarity is a characteristic of the interactive learning environment studied, connected to the improvements achieved. Previous research has highlighted solidarity as one main component of interactive learning environments such as dialogic literary gatherings and interactive groups (Pulido-Rodríguez et al, 2015 ; Khalfaoui et al, 2020 ), and adult education has been identified as a context of collective action, mobilisation and solidarity leading to greater equity and inclusion (Heidemann, 2020 ; Smythe et al, 2021 ). Drawing on solidarity can contribute to approaching the right to quality inclusive education for people with disabilities at all levels and lifelong learning, as recognised in the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN, 2006 ).…”