The pandemic has mercilessly highlighted deficits in Italian high schools, but it has been a long time since students, teachers, school staff and other stakeholders asked for decisive innovation. In this paper, this drive for change will be studied in terms of renovation in light of the fundamental axes of the 21st century competences: the so-called STEM competences, on the one hand, and transversal, digital, civic and social competences, on the other. Regarding this second order of competences, the author will focus on the role of legal education, to underline how the teaching of law is also required to renew itself, in terms of contents and methods, in light of the profound changes that its very object is experiencing due to globalization and digitalization.
After an overview on the competence-based L&T (Learning and Teaching) revolution in Italian High School, the Law of 20 August 2019, n. 92 on the introduction of Civic Education L&T paths will be deepened. Afterwards, a survey on Italian school legislation is presented, in order to find spaces and indications for the teaching of law through the variety of different schools, curricula and institutions. Finally, the author will formulate a proposal for the methods of the teaching of law, starting from WEF point of view on 21st century knowledge. Lastly, the importance of teacher education is underlined, especially in order to face the upcoming challenges in the world of education, which the pandemic has made even more demanding.