La Costituzione tra Famiglia, Scuola e Società

Abstract

Education represents one of the pillars of the Italian Constitution, which provides indeed for mandatory primary education. The Constitution also guarantees the parent’s right to educate children, without forgetting that the freedom of individuals in every social group – even in this perspective – is a fundamental principle of our legal system. Despite the consideration given to education, the members of the Italian Constituent Assembly did not require constitutional education as specific subject in school curricula. In the light of this legal framework – and on the basis of an experience of more than ten years of ‘constitutional dissemination’ in schools of all types and levels – the contribution aims to suggest some food for thought on constitutional education: after a brief reconstruction of the debate in the Constituent Assembly, it is shown how civic and constitutional education programmes are still not adequately supported by laws, even if a strong constitutional education appears a crucial issue in Italian contemporary society.