Clotilde Pontecorvo has left us but her intellectual and human legacy will remain forever! We can affirm this with certainty; in fact, we owe her the introduction into the Italian context of research lines such as the study of social interaction in learning contexts, the study of discussions during family dinners, the analysis of speech in class, the acquisition of the language writing and in general the relationship between argumentation and thought. Furthermore, it has promoted an articulated and sophisticated approach to teacher training and educational continuity. His works have been published worldwide and translated into several languages. Tireless thinker, she worked until the last moment, always true to herself and always attentive to the evolution of contemporary society.
Her great ability to form a group should also be underlined, thanks to the completely personal way he had of interfacing with her students. She used to guide you with confidence and in an always stimulating way, she always wanted more but she was the first to recognize and appreciate the merits of each one. Working with her was challenging but highly rewarding. The effect of her being a teacher and a researcher is recognizable and easily traceable in all her disciples, even after many years.
Personally, I immediately loved her for always looking for the interconnection between research and real problems. Even during a recent interview (carried out by me in 2020 for the Educational Psychology Magazine) she said: “Currently, it seems to me that Italian educational psychology is not very present in international debates on major issues”. Today the themes are really huge (post-Covid; a war around the corner; the increase in poverty) and we all hope that Clotilde’s warning will be heeded and that Italian psychology will be able to find its specific of a debate attentive to the variegated social and cultural realities that characterize our present and will determine our future.
Beatrice Ligorio
University of Bari