Conference Program

This paper reflects on the paideutic value of narrative logos in aging as a tool for promoting democratic citizenship. The heuristic-hermeneutic focus is on the educability of the person (Spina, 2024) in old age and on storytelling as a pedagogical device (Ricoeur, 2002; Demetrio, 1996; Spina, 2018), capable of both giving “voice” to life stories (Bruner, 2002, 2006) and fostering invigorating intergenerational exchanges.

Starting from some preliminary considerations, centered on Lifelong Learning and the Pedagogy of Active Aging (the process of developing and maintaining functional capacity, which enables well-being in old age), we come to understand the elderly as a “human heritage of memories and historical-socio-cultural roots” (Cianfriglia, 2024, p. 11). Considering active aging a “scenario of participation, activity, and generativity” (Baschiera, Deluigi, Luppi, 2014, p. 13), a possible path for accompanying the elderly can be found in educational programs rooted in narrative logos. From this perspective, we consider the narrative experience as a paideutic practice that, at the same time, takes the form of recognition (Ricoeur, 2005; Spina, 2025) and a practice of citizenship. Through storytelling/whether recounting others’ stories or one’s own, an individual is able to recognize their own history, reinterpret the meanings of aging, and assert their presence in public and community spaces (Arendt, 2016). It should also be noted that, in confronting the fragility of old age, the spoken word fosters a fruitful dialogue with younger generations, offering them memory and testimony of times past. By countering forms of social invisibility (which often also characterize aging with disabilities), storytelling becomes a fundamental element in supporting processes of authentic communication, participation, recognition, and inclusion; dimensions that underpin democratic citizenship.