What Does gathering Mean
The informal and regular meetings where people congregate interested in the same topic to discuss, learn and share opinions, are known as social gatherings . It is a Spanish custom that was very frequent in its independent colonies until the middle of the 20th century . At present, the contertulios or gatherings (as the assistants are called) are usually people of the intellectual field who meet in cafeterias.
The gatherings can be all kinds: literary , theatrical , bullfighting and even of general interest . There is an implicit norm through which the person who is absent from a gathering is attacked and discredited, allowing none of the regular attendees to miss the meetings and to commit to belonging to the group .
It is considered that a good level gathering can be an excellent educational instrument , since the first thing that is learned in them is the critical sense and tolerance for the ideas of others. In addition, the gatherings allow to foster friendship , strengthen social relationships and enrich the culture of the attendees.
Beyond the fact that it was the Spanish who spread the custom of social gatherings, it is not clear what was the origin of this type of meeting. Some believe that they come from the Christian-Roman theologian Tertullian , famous for his ability as a polemicist. However, the most popular theory is that which indicates that the gatherings have their origins in the literary academies of the Golden Age , such as the Academia de los Nocturnos (in Valencia ) and the meetings in the Casa de Pilatos (in Seville ).
It should be noted that nowadays there is also talk of gathering to refer to the television programs "of the heart", which are usually broadcast in the afternoons, for hours, and bring together popular personalities who discuss irrelevant issues but treat them as if first level. Its participants are also called tertullians , although in this case they are mentioned with contempt by the detractors of " trash TV ."
The educational action that takes place in Learning Communities is known by the name of dialogic gathering and that consists of the use of dialogue with all students or with those who participate in it to build meaning and knowledge from that point . Its operation is supported by two other concepts: dialogic reading and the principles of dialogic learning, both based on equal participation in a conversation in which the validity of the arguments prevails over power.
In a dialogic gathering, development takes place thanks to the exploration of the most outstanding creations of our species, in their various fields, such as literature, music or the plastic arts. The direct approach to universal culture and scientific knowledge is one of the phenomena that promotes this form of dialogue, and does not impose barriers of any kind; In other words, it does not matter the gender, age, origin or intellectual level of the participants.
The origin of the dialogic gathering is in Barcelona, where in the 1980s the La Verneda-Sant Martí School for Adults began to experiment in this new way of dialogue to include rather than exclude, to promote free opinion instead to close the doors to those who do not meet certain academic or social requirements. In its beginnings it was oriented towards literature : it consisted of meetings in which its participants debated different classical works from all over the world. The foundations of dialogic learning are found in the work of the writer Ramón Flecha .