The Local Dimension to Learn History. Experiences conducted on the Historical Heritage of Bologna (Italy)

In the teaching of history, attention to the local dimension offers opportunities that have a positive impact on all moments and factors of learning: from the motivational to the methodological aspects, from the perceptive to the formative ones, significantly influencing the understanding of global history. Investigating the surrounding reality to grasp its distinctive and identifying characteristics and the changes leads to active participation and the conquest of knowledge, arousing the emotion of feeling like heirs and protagonists of history. It stimulates the use of laboratory and cooperative learning approaches and methods and makes it possible to identify poles of interest with a broad disciplinary spectrum to have a positive impact by exercising effective active citizenship. The experiences carried out for over thirty years in Bologna are proof of this.