The double gift in education
There is no doubt that we can understand education as an act with a “boomerang effect”. Give and take. Teacher and student are participants and builders of the knowledge that is forged throughout the classes. The knowledge that the teacher brings to the student will be received by the society when him, some day, becomes an expert. It is here where the Don theory acquires its full meaning: society, like education, – through the exercise of giving, receiving and returning – is based on a beneficial interaction between humans.
It is not casual that the ideologist of this theory, Marcel Mauss, was a family member and collaborator of Durkheim who was committed to a model of education that would allow, from socialization, to integrate and learn the values necessary to live in community. With a positive view of human anthropology, this theory, taken to the field of education (through different practices such as learning / service or peer assistance) advocates for the moral improvement of people thank to the interrelation between them and the affection created from the bond that derives from “giving, receiving and returning”.