The teachers of mentally disabled children in Reggio Emilia: the “Antonio Marro” Colony-School across the 1920s and 1930s

Abstract

The “Antonio Marro” Colony-School, inaugurated in Reggio Emilia in 1921 and overseen by the adjacent “San Lazzaro” Asylum, offered an alternative to the conventional practice of confining children with mental disabilities in asylums. Bringing a holistic approach, the Institute recruited a number of elementary teachers to work alongside its health and welfare staff. In this paper, I outline the history of the Institute, with a particular focus on the teachers employed there during the 1920s and 1930s in terms of their biographical profiles and, more specifically, their educational backgrounds. The aim is to provide additional insights into a historiographical theme that remains largely unexplored: the training of teachers for disabled pupils.