Formative meaningfulness and democratic participation: a survey on the teaching of history and literature

The research presented here aims to be part of debate of the importance of the humanities and to offer its contribution from an educational point of view. The matter in question is the teaching of the humanities, in particular history and literature though dealt with in an unusual and exploratory way, albeit with a clear purpose: listening to students to find out how and to what extent their voice and intimate involvement in the topic of the study can contribute to a greater understanding of the teaching-learning process and to an improvement in terms of effectiveness of teaching practices, in reference specifically to the two humanistic subjects under scrutiny.