L’attività motoria come dispositivo pedagogico di cambiamento

Il presente saggio, frutto di una ricerca empirica triennale finanziata dalla Commissione europea nell'ambito del V FP (Progetto YOYO), analizza il potenziale delle attività sportive, sopratttutto di quelle estetico-espressive, quale innesco motivazionale nel recupero di giovani in situazione di svantaggio. La motivazione intrinseca, legata al piacere di svolgere una determinata attività, nel caso qui preso in esame la danza, ha dimostrato la propria efficacia di diffusione ad altri ambiti della vita del soggetto, in questo caso alla frequenza e ai successi scolastici, soprattutto se accompagnata da figure adulte autorevoli in grado di incanalarla verso forme più profonde di riflessività esistenziale. Body, movement and sport activities have traditionally been less valued than cognitive abilities in the educational system, a fact that still permeates the design of school system, but an encouraging sign in favour of acknowledge of the educative purpose of movement and sport activities comes from the two other contexts of learning: The non-formal and the informal. Nowadays they are integrating the formal context (school), which is not more able to cover for the need of social integration of the new generations and economic competitiveness as a result of the advent of the Knowledge Society, the global context of technology and the internationalisation of commerce. This chapter is based on the research project YOYO - Youth Policy and Participation. Potentials of participation and informal learning in young people's transitions to the labour market. A comparative analysis in ten European regions - funded by the European Commission under the 5° Framework Programme RTD, Human Potential - Key Action "Improving the Socio-economic Knowledge Base" (Duration July 2001 - July 2004). It was carried on by EGRIS: a research network consisting of partners in Denmark, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain, whose main activity is to investigate the changing structures and processes of social integration in the context of new trajectories between youth and adulthood as well as the consequences for education and welfare. One of the most important finding of this research regards the role of movement as motivational factor, e.g. motivational change. Young people, who due to their disadvantaged background, have experienced demotivation at school or in the formal training schemes and are therefore at risk of disengaging, can be remotivated by actions that succeed in giving them a feeling of self-efficacy with regard to subjective needs and interests, as happens in the Portuguese case study project Batoto Yeto in which the intrinsic quality of movement (dance) is used to instil in the participants a feeling of self-efficacy also in terms of the more extrinsic aspects of life like training or work. In fact, their passion for dance and music triggers their motivation to study and to overcome their difficulties.