MEDICALIZING SCHOOL?

2026-01-20

In recent years, there has been a growing tendency to interpret educational difficulties through a diagnostic and clinical lens. The widespread use of labels such as Special Educational Needs (SEN), Specific Learning Disorders (SLD), or other developmental disorders has generated a complex and urgent debate. While such categorizations can help to identify students' needs, they also raise deep questions about the risks of reductionism, stigmatization, and the abdication of educational responsibility.

This issue of the journal seeks to collect contributions that critically reflect on the phenomenon of the medicalization of educational difficulties, fostering an interdisciplinary dialogue between philosophy, pedagogy, psychology, sociology, and educational sciences.

Possible topics for reflection include:

  • What are the epistemological, cultural, and social implications of the medicalization of education?
  • What is the role of philosophy and pedagogy in counteracting reductionist approaches and promoting a holistic, relational vision of the person?
  • How can inclusive education be guaranteed without reducing differences to mere diagnoses?
  • How can schools and educational institutions preserve their formative mission without surrendering to clinical-diagnostic logic?
  • What critical and constructive alternatives exist to the medicalizing paradigm of educational difficulties?

Deadline: june 30th, 2026