Reflexivity in adult education: some theoretical elements for a debate

Starting from John Dewey's assertions regarding the effectiveness of the most suitable educational strategies to encourage the growth and development of intelligence, the article aims to show the relevance of "reflective thinking" for the adult education perspective in order to evidence how the planning of training activities aimed at adults must necessarily relate to the levels of autonomy and motivation for learning by students and be inspired by criteria of flexibility and content transaction. In particular, we will try to show how education in the reflexivity of thought is necessarily related to the need to pay particular attention to satisfying the legitimate aspirations of social, cultural and economic development of learners through paths and procedures aimed at building suitable occasions and environments for development of learning processes.