History of Education & Children’s Literature
Copyright (c) 2025 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
Una comunità scientifica che rilegge il suo passato. Introduzione alla raccolta di studi su Mezzo secolo di ricerca storico- educativa in Italia
This paper is the introduction to the monographic issue of «History of Education & Children’s Literature» dedicated to the theme: Half a century of historical-educational research in Italy. Protagonists, itineraries, experiences. In it, the author traces the origins and the underlying reasons for the organic and articulated balance of the research conducted in the field of historical-educational studies in the last fifty years offered by the contributions collected here.
Copyright (c) 2025 Roberto Sani https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
Nascita e sviluppo del Centro Italiano per la Ricerca Storico-Educativa (CIRSE) dai primi anni Ottanta ad oggi
The essay reconstructs the history of CIRSE (Italian Center for Historical-Educational Research) starting from before its appearance in 1980, with the aim of highlighting the contents, methodologies and research perspectives of previous studies and therefore the motivations which promoted its founding. The analysis below highlights the objectives and operational lines gradually pursued in almost half a century of its existence, not only ignoring the external difficulties but also those internal which have gradually occurred.
Copyright (c) 2025 Carmen Betti https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
Alle origini di un nuovo ambito di ricerca nel settore storico-educativo: genesi ed evoluzione della Società Italiana per lo Studio del Patrimonio Storico-Educativo
This paper focuses on the interest that educational heritage has attracted within Italian historical-educational research, as well as within national and international museums and associations. Within this framework, the article reconstructs the reasons that led to the institution of the Italian Society for the Study of Historical-Educational Heritage (SIPSE) and the early years of activity of this new society. During these early years, SIPSE has carved out an active role in the research on, protection, and dissemination of educational heritage, establishing solid connections not only with the Italian and international scientific community, but also with various sectors of civil society concerned in various ways with the cultural heritage of education.
Copyright (c) 2025 Elisabetta Patrizi﻿﻿ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
Il contributo degli storici dell’educazione alla storia dell’università: temi e indirizzi di ricerca
In recent decades university – conceived as a site of training, knowledge production, and career formation – and its history have become an integral chapter of the history of education. This reframing has been shaped by historians of education who, thanks to the work of research centres, conferences and several journals, have woven together micro and macro-level analyses, thematic foci, and geographical scales. The result is a coherent picture in which the university, a central educational institution of modernity, becomes a privileged field of inquiry for rethinking the methods, sources, and aims of the history of education.
Copyright (c) 2025 Simona Salustri https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
L’ educazione comparata in Italia dal secondo dopoguerra agli anni Novanta. Protagonisti e linee di ricerca
This contribution reconstructs a significant phase in the history of Comparative Education in Italy, from the post-World War II period to the 1990s, by examining the leading authors, works, and research directions that shaped the field. Unlike other European traditions, the Italian School of Comparative Education was not characterized by “pure” comparativists; its hallmark was instead the vitality and diversity of its scholarly production. The collaboration with publishers committed to translating foreign studies, the openness of journals to specialized contributions, the establishment of Chairs in Comparative Education at major Italian universities, and the plurality of methodological approaches all provided fresh impetus to the discipline. These developments produced noteworthy results and opened pathways for further research in the following decades.
Copyright (c) 2025 Carla Callegari https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
Contributo ad una storia della storiografia pedagogica e educativa di orientamento cattolico nell’Italia del secondo dopoguerra
This contribution focuses on the origins and distinctive developments that, starting in the early 1980s, have characterized historical-educational and school-related research within the Catholic area. In particular, the author begins with the renewal of historical-pedagogical studies that took place in Italy as early as the 1950s and 1960s, as evidenced by some pioneering and innovative publications from that period. He then concentrates specifically on the choices and work of the research group centered around Luciano Pazzaglia and the historians of education and schooling at the Catholic University of Milan, as well as on the group initiated by Giorgio Chiosso and his collaborators at the University of Turin. The author delves into the specific nature of their respective projects and the role these research groups played in the renewal of historical-pedagogical studies from the 1980s onward.
La ricerca storico-educativa all’Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore di Milano dagli anni Ottanta agli inizi del XXI secolo
This paper traces the transformations that shaped history of education research at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart from the 1980s to the 2000s, situating this evolution within a wider context of epistemological, institutional, and academic change. It focuses on two main dimensions: first, the repositioning of history of education within the human sciences, marked by increasing attention to methodological issues and the need for a plurality of approaches; second, the impact of university reforms – most notably the new degree structures introduced in light of the Bologna Process – on the ways historical-pedagogical knowledge was constructed and transmitted. Drawing on extensive archival materials and contemporary publications, the analysis highlights several key developments within Milan’s academic landscape, including the creation of the Department of Pedagogy and the PhD in Pedagogy, the evolution of teaching programs, and the emergence of specific lines of historical-educational inquiry. Overall, it underscores the distinctive contribution of the Catholic University of Milan to the advancement of history of education scholarship in Italy during the period under consideration.
Copyright (c) 2025 Carla Ghizzoni https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
L’ esperienza degli «Annali di storia dell’educazione e delle istituzioni scolastiche»
This contribution aims to reconstruct the experience of the scientific journal «Annals of History of Education and Educational Institutions» since its foundation in 1994. In particular, the most significant thematic nuclei and its main animators are highlighted. In addition, it is well specified how since its foundation the journal, even in its methodological continuity, has represented an important interdisciplinary crossroads and an important place for the valorisation of historiographic sources.
Copyright (c) 2025 Fulvio De Giorgi https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
I saperi storico-educativi all’Università di Torino tra istanze istituzionali, processi culturali e strategie didattiche (1845-2000)
The essay traces the stages through which the transmission of historicalpedagogical knowledge took place at the University of Turin between the 19th and 20th centuries. The establishment of chairs, the educational and research profiles of professors, as well as the programs and the contents transmitted are examined. Although following a non-linear path, characterized more by continuity rather than by transformations, the history of historical-pedagogical subjects at the University of Turin shows the acquisition of an increasingly distinctive identity both in research and teaching, particularly evident from the 1960s onward.
Copyright (c) 2025 Paolo Bianchini https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
Dal repertorio dei periodici scolastici al Dizionario Biografico dell’Educazione: il contributo torinese all’individuazione di nuove fonti per la ricerca storico-educativa
In the 1980s, a group of scholars, both young and senior, from various Italian universities gathered around the figure of Giorgio Chiosso with a project aimed at introducing significant innovations in national historical-educational research from a variety of perspectives. First, the group set out to identify unexplored thematic areas and to adopt a new methodological approach. Moving beyond the idealistic vision rooted in Gentile’s thought, and inspired by insights from the international scientific community, they promoted a history of schooling and education attentive to educational institutions, teaching practices, and everyday life inside classrooms. This made it necessary to resort to new types of sources (pedagogical and school press addressed to teachers, school manuals and publishing, biographies of teachers and educators), which became the focus of different phases of a research program developed over two decades. The results of this collaborative work were published in printed repertories as well as in an online version.
Copyright (c) 2025 Maria Cristina Morandini https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
Storia, identità e prospettive di una proficua sinergia torinese: il rapporto tra Università e Museo della Scuola e del Libro per l’infanzia
This article examines the longstanding and fruitful collaboration between the University of Turin and the Tancredi di Barolo Foundation, which manages the MUSLI (Museum of School and Children’s Books), established in 2003. Originating from a scientific agreement in 2002, this institutional relationship has supported numerous joint initiatives in the fields of the history of schooling, education and children’s literature. Drawing on archival materials – such as textbooks, school notebooks and illustrated children’s books – the article documents a range of research projects, academic collaborations, and digital humanities initiatives. Particular attention is given to projects involving faculty and students from the Department of Philosophy and Educational Sciences, including digitization efforts, thematic exhibitions, and app development. Through these case studies, the article highlights how this university–museum partnership has contributed to the advancement of educational research, the dissemination of cultural heritage, and the integration of historical sources in pedagogical practices.
Copyright (c) 2025 Ilaria Mattioni, Francesca Davida Pizzigoni﻿ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
La storiografia pedagogica all’Università di Padova: cinquant’anni fra ricerca e didattica
The contribution aims to reconstruct the historical-pedagogical research in the University of Padua during the post-World War II period. After recalling that it had a long tradition behind it that began with the institution of the autonomous Chair of Pedagogy (1876), the formation of the Paduan Pedagogical School is presented, founded on Luigi Stefanini’s Personalism and for a long time directed and animated in the pedagogical field by Giuseppe Flores d’Arcais. His first pupil and collaborator was Marcello Peretti, later followed by many others. The expansion of historical research in the then Faculty of Education was favoured by the establishment of several new chairs: from that of History of Pedagogy to that of History of Schools and Educational Institutions to that of History of Children’s Literature. The pedagogical historiography of the Padua School was characterized by the close link between theoretical elaboration and historical research, by the constant dialogue with the Classics and by the personalistic orientation, aimed at enhancing both the concrete reality of man and his values, rooted in the very “mystery” of existence. The closure of the Magisterium and the gradual exit from the scene of Maestri Flores d’Arcais and Peretti and the generation of scholars who had trained at their school marked the fading of this pedagogical and historiographical model and its demise.
Copyright (c) 2025 Giuseppe Zago https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
Il ruolo della rivista «History of Education & Children’s Literature» (HECL) nel rinnovamento degli studi storico-educativi in Italia
This paper aims to reconstruct the twenty-year history of the international scientific journal «History of Education & Children’s Literature» (HECL), founded and directed since 2006 by Prof. Roberto Sani and still today an essential point of reference in Italian, European and extra-European historical-educational studies. Through the examination of some unpublished archive documents and the quantitative and qualitative analysis of all the issues published by the journal, the authors focus their attention on the role played by this journal, over the last twenty years, in the development process of Italian historical-educational research and in the growth and renewal of such studies also at an international level. The authors, after having presented the project that characterized the genesis and birth of the journal, then focus on the most significant results obtained from the dissemination of the results of the most authoritative European and extra-European pedagogical historiography and on the key role played by the magazine in promoting sector research conducted in Italy as well as for the inclusion of Italian scholars themselves, especially the youngest, within the international scientific context.
Copyright (c) 2025 Luigiaurelio Pomante, Maria Ortenzi https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
Il Centro di Documentazione e Ricerca sulla storia del libro scolastico e della Letteratura per l’infanzia e il Museo della Scuola “Paolo e Ornella Ricca” dell’Università degli Studi di Macerata come officine della ricerca storico-educativa
Following the historiographical shift that has influenced historical-educational research since the early 1990s – particularly inspired by the reflections of French historian Dominique Julia – Italy has witnessed a renewal in both research centers and school and education museums, within academic communities and beyond. Within this context, the Center for Documentation and Research on the History of School Textbooks and Children’s Literature and the “Paolo and Ornella Ricca” School Museum of the University of Macerata stand out as two institutions established between 2004 and 2009. This article traces their history and development over time, highlighting how they represent an emblematic example of the integration between scientific research, preservation, and dissemination of historical-educational heritage.
Copyright (c) 2025 Anna Ascenzi, Lucia Paciaroni https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
Progetti di ricerca nazionali e internazionali e convegni scientifici organizzati a Macerata (2002-2022)
This contribution aims to provide a summary of the national and international research projects and numerous scientific conferences organised and co-organised by the group of historians of education affiliated to the Centre for Documentation and Research on the History of School Books and Children’s Literature (CESCO) at the University of Macerata between 2002 and 2022. The aim is to identify the main areas of intervention of the historiographical research promoted by Macerata’s historians of education and to define the contribution made to their rooting within the national and international scientific community, through the presentation of a detailed review of the main initiatives promoted during the first two decades of the 21st century.
Copyright (c) 2025 Juri Meda https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
Il contributo del Dottorato di ricerca in Storia dell’educazione e della Letteratura per l’infanzia dell’Università degli Studi di Macerata al rinnovamento degli studi di settore e alla formazione di una nuova generazione di ricercatori
Within the framework of studies dedicated to the history of the universities and higher education in Italy, research training has unfortunately received limited attention. Indeed, since the advent of the first organised and systematic works in the early 20th century, the most investigated strands have predominantly concerned the history of universities in the medieval and Risorgimento periods. Since the late 20th and early 21st centuries, scholarly attention has been directed towards the contemporary period, encompassing the evolution of university policies and systems. However, the scientific debate of a historical-pedagogical nature has typically been more dynamic about topics such as the history of individual universities or the theme of education, while devoting little space to the analysis of research training. This paper aims to address that gap by offering an initial overview of the contribution made by the Ph.D. in programme in History of Education and Children’s Literature, established at the University of Macerata in the 2004/2005 academic year, and by analysing its significance in terms of the quality of scientific training offered and the enhancement and promotion of research activities in the field.
Copyright (c) 2025 Sofia Montecchiani https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
Nuove frontiere storico-educative nell’Ateneo romano
This paper reconstructs the development of historical-pedagogical disciplines within the Faculty of Magistero of the University “La Sapienza” and, subsequently, of the University of Roma Tre, with particular attention to the new historiographical approaches that have developed since the 1990s. Thus, several research trajectories have emerged that, thanks to the use of unpublished and atypical documentary sources and an interdisciplinary and hermeneutic-critical perspective, have shed light on new questions and subjects in the field of historical- educational research.
Copyright (c) 2025 Francesca Borruso, Lorenzo Cantatore, Carmela Covato, Chiara Meta https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
Sulla scia di Manacorda e Broccoli. Gli studi di storia della pedagogia marxista nell’Ateneo romano dagli anni Sessanta a oggi
This paper reconstructs the origins and evolution of Marxist pedagogy within Roman academia. It focuses on two of the most significant stages in this process. The first phase is exemplified by the studies of Mario Alighiero Manacorda and Angelo Broccoli at the Faculty of Letters and Philosophy and the Magistero, respectively, both at the University “La Sapienza”. The second phase is the valorisation of this legacy at the University of Roma Tre from the 2000s to the present day.
Copyright (c) 2025 Carmela Covato, Chiara Meta, Luca Silvestri https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
Giacomo Cives e Francesco Susi: la ricerca storico-scolastica a Roma
The first part of the article briefly illustrates the different aspects in which the contribution to the studies of the history of education in Rome offered by Giacomo Cives can be considered: from scientific contributions on the educational and university institutions of the Capital to the teaching and promotion of research carried out as professor of History of Pedagogy at the University of Rome “La Sapienza”. The second part of the article offers a synthetic reconstruction of Francesco Susi’s research activity. Susi’s studies mainly address issues related to the history of the Italian school, lifelong learning and intercultural education.
Copyright (c) 2025 Marco Antonio D’Arcangeli, Edoardo Puglielli https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
La rivista «Studi di Storia dell’Educazione» (1980-1995) di Fabrizio Ravaglioli
This paper reconstructs the origins and evolution of the journal «Studi di Storia dell’Educazione», which was founded in 1980 by Fabrizio Ravaglioli in collaboration with the publisher Armando. During its 15 years of publication, the magazine has successfully maintained two components that are both useful for constructing an alternative History of education to the History of pedagogy: both openness towards “otherness”, represented by scholars from the Italian political left, and the construction of an alternative cultural paradigm closer to conservative liberalism.
Copyright (c) 2025 Luca Silvestri https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
Letteratura per l’infanzia. Un trentennio di studi in Italia (1970-2006)
In Italy, critical studies on children’s literature have undergone a significant increase in quality and quantity since the 1970s. This evolutionary path of criticism has been based above all on a re-evaluation of the role of illustrations, the identity of the child reader and the opportunity to bring historical research into line with current pedagogical practices. In recent years, children’s literature as a subject of research has proven to be an extraordinary source of information for gaining a better understanding of the history of cultural processes and investigating the origins of the major issues in contemporary education.
Copyright (c) 2025 Lorenzo Cantatore https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
il MuSEd e il suo contributo al rinnovamento degli studi storico-educativi
This paper describes the reborn of the Museum of School and Education “Mauro Laeng” (MuSEd) in the 1980s and its ability to promote the material history of education, collecting new historical funds and reaching out to an ever-wider audience. Corrently, the MuSEd missions are preserving educational memory, supporting scientific research, teaching, and public engagement. All these functions of the Museum are described in light of the new epistemological perspectives of historical-educational studies, highlighting the contribution offered by the Museum to the renewal of sources, interpretative perspectives, and paths for research.
Copyright (c) 2025 Francesca Borruso, Lorenzo Cantatore https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
Gli studi sulle scuole nell’Agro romano e pontino. Un filone di ricerca innovativo
This article aims to reconstruct the human, historical, and educational trajectory of rural schools in the Lazio countryside during the early twentieth century through a survey of the main studies on the archive of the Ente Scuole per i Contadini dell’Agro romano e pontino. The collection is currently preserved at MuSEd, the Museum of School and Education at Roma Tre University, and it documents an extraordinary endeavor that rescued thousands of children, women, men, and adult laborers from malaria and illiteracy – individuals who lived in extreme poverty and remained invisible to the institutions of the newly established Italian State. This contribution also seeks to highlight the exploratory potential of historical-educational research on the philanthropic initiative that inspired the establishment of rural schools in other Italian regions, and which may still serve as a source of inspiration for the formative ideals underpinning not only education but also the shaping of an aesthetic canon within human Bildung.
Copyright (c) 2025 Simone di Biasio https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
Lo sviluppo degli studi in letteratura per l’infanzia all’interno del CIRSE
This paper aims to trace the evolution of studies on children’s literature within the Centro Italiano per la Ricerca Storico-Educativa (CIRSE), from its establishment to the present day, through an in-depth analysis of the contributions published in its journal, which have been systematically reviewed, as well as of the conference and seminar initiatives promoted by the Association, whose programs and proceedings have been examined. The study reveals a trajectory that partly intersects with the complex developments of the discipline within academia, especially when it became a university subject, and partly highlights the long journey of children’s literature toward gaining full recognition within the field of historical-educational studies.
Copyright (c) 2025 Susanna Barsotti, Chiara Lepri https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
Origini e sviluppi degli studi storico-pedagogici a Bologna: dal Magistero agli scenari attuali
This essay reconstructs the state of historical-pedagogical studies at the Faculty of Magistero of the University of Bologna up to the present developments, taking into account the changes that have occurred as a result of advances in the educational sciences. Specifically, it considers the repercussions of the national debate among pedagogists on the structure of the teaching of the history of pedagogy at the University of Bologna, through an analysis of the minutes of the faculty council meetings; furthermore, it examines course syllabi to identify the developments that have characterized historical-pedagogical studies in Bologna during the transition from Magistero to the Faculty of Educational Sciences. The picture that emerges has gradually become richer, shaped by the cultural debate that has engaged our disciplinary field, steering it toward further reconfigurations and the development of new areas of research.
Copyright (c) 2025 Tiziana Pironi https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
Gli studi storico-educativi nella Facoltà di Magistero a Bologna: origini e linee di ricerca della storia della scuola e della storia dell’educazione tra passato e presente
Through archival and printed sources, this essay outlines the itinerary of historical-educational teachings at the University of Bologna, from the Faculty of Magistero to the present day. It has been a complex path, characterized by the progressive achievement of autonomy from general pedagogy and intertwined with the birth of the new educational sciences and with the profound cultural and political changes of Italian post-war society. Particular attention is given to the genesis and development of the history of school and educational institutions in the 1980s, within the framework of a broader epistemological and methodological redefinition of historical-educational knowledge, which has led to new lines of research, in a lively dynamism based on new sources and methodological approaches, open to the international dimension and capable of generating an essential contribution to both general cultural education and the specific educational professions required for the future.
Copyright (c) 2025 Mirella D’Ascenzo https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
Una cattedra per Pinocchio. Le origini e gli sviluppi della ricerca pedagogica sulla Letteratura per l’infanzia nell’Università di Bologna
In 1982, the University of Bologna was one of the first Italian academic institutions to provide itself with a chair in children’s literature: the article reconstructs the origin and development of this presence that had Antonio Faeti as its first professor. Faeti’s in-depth research on the history of illustrations and on children’s tales in the Seventies – consider his essay Guardare le figure (1972) – represented a decisive turning point in the analysis of this sector, which until then had been marginal, and contributed finally to the affirmation of academic studies on children’s literature. The scientific relevance of Faeti’s research is also indicated by the deep relationships between our scholar and some important exponents of the philosophy of education (Telmon and Bertin) and of Italian culture (Fellini, Calvino, Celati). The chair of children’s literature in Bologna was established in a university particularly open to innovative studies and in a city very attentive to youth culture: this combination of opportunities has made it possible to create a “Bolognese school” of research on children’s literature that continues to promote Faeti’s precious scientific legacy.
Copyright (c) 2025 William Grandi https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
Tina Tomasi, una voce laica e democratica nella storia dell’educazione
This essay reconstructs the profile of Tina Tomasi Ventura (1912-1990), a prominent figure in Italian pedagogical historiography, emphasising her secular, democratic and militant voice. Through an analysis of her autobiography and main works, the core elements of her research emerge: ethical and political commitment, attention to marginalised subjects, and reflection on secularism and educational freedom. Central to this is her contribution to studies on the history of schooling, Freemasonry, fascism, the status of women and the history of universities, as well as her decisive role in building a national and international research community. The result is an agenda of critical and secular pedagogy that is still relevant today, intertwining memory, emancipation and the history of education.
Copyright (c) 2025 Gianfranco Bandini﻿﻿ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
Antonio Santoni Rugiu intellettuale inquieto e innovatore degli studi storicoeducativi
The article gives a fresh take on the intellectual career of Antonio Santoni Rugiu, a key figure in Italian educational historiography in the second half of the 20th century. This reinterpretation highlights his constant tension between scientific research, political commitment, and pedagogical reflection, which made him a restless intellectual and innovator in the field of historical-educational studies.
Copyright (c) 2025 Luca Bravi, Stefano Oliviero https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
La dimensione storico-educativa-pedagogica negli insegnamenti di Magistero e Scienze della Formazione dell’Università di Firenze
This article aims at analysing how taught courses in History of Education at the University of Florence changed from 1968 to nowadays. On the basis of archival as well as bibliographic sources, the paper is going to show that throughout 1990s courses in History of Pedagogy, which were initially focused on the study of pedagogists’ ideas, were gradually replaced by courses in History of Education. Such shift promoted closer links with historical studies.
Copyright (c) 2025 Chiara Martinelli https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
Questioni storico-educative in «Scuola e Città»
The paper analyses the evolution of the historical-educative dimensions of the review «Scuola e Città», which was published between 1950 and 2003. On the basis of archival as well as bibliographic sources, the article reconstructs the foundation of the review; furthermore, it highlights differences in themes and topics emerged with time.
Copyright (c) 2025 Chiara Martinelli, Stefano Oliviero https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
«Il Ponte» e il suo ruolo nel contesto della “scuola fiorentina” e nell’ambito nazionale
The article describes the historical, cultural, and pedagogical profile of the journal «Il Ponte», founded in Florence by Piero Calamandrei in 1945. From its very beginning, the journal stood out for its multidisciplinary approach, addressing political, cultural, and social issues, as well as more marginal aspects of daily news, interpreted through a critical and civic lens. Although not explicitly pedagogical, «Il Ponte» has served as an important source for Italian historical-educational thought, thanks also to its ties with figures such as Aldo Capitini, Tristano Codignola, Antonio Santoni Rugiu e Raffaele Laporta. The text highlights themes and debates related to historical-educational reflection that have produced an important cultural contribution within the Florentine context but have also been a driving force of influence at the national level.
Copyright (c) 2025 Luca Bravi https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
Le edizioni storico-educative de La Nuova Italia
In this article we are going to outline the gradual evolution of the historiography of education since the 1960s, with specific attention to the most important series of La Nuova Italia which is entitled Educatori antichi e moderni [Ancient and Modern Educators]. The article evidenced the transition from historical-pedagogical discussions concerning pedagogical ideas, theories, concepts and those who developed them, to discussions concerning aspects, places and protagonists that are not only institutional and/or formal, but rather they could be defined as historical-educational. We are going to highlight also the consistently secular and democratic character of the publication, which constituted also a reference point for progressive teachers.
Seminari, convegni e iniziative culturali a carattere storico-educativo nell’ultimo mezzo secolo
This paper examines the debate in the historical-educational field that has emerged from conferences, study seminars, and academic meetings promoted by the University of Florence, or in which scholars from the Florentine academic community have participated as organizers or speakers over the past fifty years in Italy. This is a preliminary mapping, certainly not exhaustive, reconstructed through the analysis of news and articles published in contemporary printed and archival sources.
Copyright (c) 2025 Lucia Cappelli https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
La letteratura per l’infanzia a Firenze: fra tradizione e innovazione negli ultimi cinquant’anni (1975-2025). Tre istituzioni protagoniste
The essay reconstructs the role played by Florence and its educational tradition at various levels (institutional, editorial, and university), especially in the fifty years between the end of the twentieth century and the first twenty years of the twentyfirst century: a period in which the cultural role, with respect to children’s literature, was both changing and keeping alive a true educational commitment in this area of growth and cultivation of the child’s mind.
Copyright (c) 2025 Franco Cambi https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
La storia della scuola e delle istituzioni educative nell’Italia meridionale e insulare: un bilancio storiografico dalla seconda metà del Novecento ad oggi tra protagonisti, itinerari ed esperienze
This contribution aims to critically examine – without claiming to be exhaustive – over fifty years of school and educational historiography produced on and in Southern Italy. The analysis considers the main epistemological, methodological, and thematic changes that have marked the evolution of the discipline, with particular attention to the overcoming of the neo-idealist paradigm, which for a long time confined the history of pedagogy to the history of ideas and the history of schooling to a marginal role in the sciences of education. It also highlights the places, tools, and paths that have fostered the emergence of new research perspectives, contributing to the enhancement of the history of schooling as a complex field, sensitive to the territorial, social, and cultural contexts of southern Italy.
Copyright (c) 2025 Alberto Barausse, Michela D’Alessio https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
Il contributo del Centro di Documentazione e Ricerca sulla Storia delle Istituzioni Scolastiche, del Libro Scolastico e della Letteratura per l’Infanzia dell’Università del Molise alla ricerca storico-educativa tra dimensione locale e transnazionale
This article retraces the twenty-year history of the Center for Documentation and Research on the History of School Institutions, School Books, and Children’s Literature (CeSIS) at the University of Molise, emphasizing its contribution to the renewal of historical-educational studies. By examining the Center’s core components – documentary heritage, collaborative networks, and scholarly output – a working model emerges in which heritage preservation, historiographical research, and international dialogue are closely intertwined.
Copyright (c) 2025 Florindo Palladino https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
La storia della scuola e della letteratura per l’infanzia tra rappresentazione museale e educazione al patrimonio: l’esperienza del Museo della scuola e dell’educazione popolare dell’Università del Molise
The paper aims to present the experience of the Museum of School and Popular Education (MuSEP) at the University of Molise. The Museum was officially established in 2013 as an outgrowth of the Ce.S.I.S., which had already been active since 2006. Since 2017, MuSEP has also been part of the university museum network MuseUnimol. The paper highlights the close relationship between the orientations of historical-educational research and the activities carried out by the Museum. A theoretical framework on heritage education is then provided, accompanied by several project-based examples. Another area of focus of the Museum is the promotion of reading, which is described both in its conceptual dimensions and through concrete initiatives. Attention is also given to the most innovative aspect, namely the use of new technologies.
Copyright (c) 2025 Rossella Andreassi https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
La storia orale e la scuola come ambito di ricerca e di innovazione storiografica negli ultimi trent’anni
The paper aims, on the one hand, to retrace the consolidation of oral sources as academically legitimate evidence within the historiographical renewal of the past three decades particularly in research strands concerned with material culture, school memory, and public history and, on the other, to present the most up-to-date outcomes of methodological debate regarding their collection, preservation, and public valorisation. The methodological dimension will be a pivotal focus of the discussion, since interviews being at once subjective memory sources and the product of a process of historical reconstruction shaped by the interaction of multiple actors require the adoption of criteria capable of ensuring a robust and verifiable interpretation of the historical record.
Copyright (c) 2025 Rossella Andreassi, Valeria Viola https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0