Language: English

Language: English

Language: English

Language: English

Language: English

ISSN: 1470-8647

Abstract/Notes: This author describes how her elementary students first became interested in studying ancient Egypt. Her students' interest in the ancient Egyptian studies began when a student checked out a library book on Egyptology that contained colorful images and was soon swarmed by interested classmates. Many of her students began practicing writing hieroglyphics while others became fascinated by Egyptian pyramids, jewelry, and artwork. She was amazed at the sustained interest in Egypt over the year and thought it would be beneficial to introduce Egyptian mythology in addition to other cultural factors (such as jobs, dependency on the Nile, animals, food, and clothing) to the students. In addition, she developed "Journey to Egypt," a board game meant to provide opportunities for students to use acquired knowledge, to develop and/or master vocabulary (cultural terms such as "ankh," "scarab", "pharaoh," "pyramid," "vizier," "plague," etc.), to explore another time period, and to identify elements of ancient Egypt (religion and mythology, artistic trends and achievements, and systems of reading and writing). Instructions on how to play Journey to Egypt are also presented.

Language: English

ISSN: 1054-0040

Abstract/Notes: Norse mythology in the classroom

Language: English

ISSN: 1071-6246

Abstract/Notes: The article explores the educational value that Ellen Key (1849-1926), Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925) and Maria Montessori (1870-1952) attributed to children's stories. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century these three important authors contributed to the renewal of the educational theories and practices. They dedicated a part of their pedagogical reflections to the educational meanings of children's stories; consider, e.g., the many pages of Ellen Key on children's literature, the recommendations of Rudolf Steiner on the educational relevance of fairy tales and mythology or, finally, Maria Montessori's reflections on fairy tales. The article examines these ideas from a historical and pedagogical point of view.

Language: English

DOI: 10.6092/issn.1970-2221/6374

ISSN: 1970-2221

Abstract/Notes: Il fascino della teosofia catturò una fascia non marginale delle élites intellettuali europee nel primo Novecento e tale fenomeno non mancò di interessare la cultura e la società italiana. Nel solco delle nuove correnti di spiritualità allargatesi con l’aprirsi del nuovo secolo, e sulle macerie del positivismo scientistico che aveva egemonizzato la precedente stagione, la teosofia esercitò un’influenza straordinaria entro diversi ambiti di impegno culturale, che continuavano a guardare con fiducia alla possibilità di contribuire al progresso dell’umanità. La costruzione di una mitologia allegorica sull’avvento prossimo di una Nuova Era coinvolse specialmente la cultura dell’educazione, generando elementi di rinnovamento profondo del sapere pedagogico e dell’iniziativa in campo educativo. L’investimento di energie sulla bontà dei principi e dei metodi della pedagogia Montessori costituì solo uno degli aspetti, tra i più significativi, che assunse tale frontiera innovativa in area pedagogica, particolarmente sostenuta dalle reti teosofiche. La riscoperta del notevole contributo che la cultura teosofica complessivamente offrì a favore dell’organizzazione di una ‘teoria’ dell’Educazione Nuova costituisce, pertanto, un’operazione storiografica importante, per intendere come, anche in Italia, tra aspirazioni ideali, illusioni e generosi slanci profetici, una nuova pedagogia – moderna, democratica, liberale e mondial/globalista – si aprì degli spazi decisivi per cominciare a cambiare gli orizzonti contemporanei della formazione. / The fascination of theosophy captured a non-marginal band of European intellectual elites in the early twentieth century and this phenomenon did not fail to interest Italian culture and society. In the wake of the new currents of spirituality that widened with the opening of the new century, and on the ruins of the scientistic positivism that had dominated the previous season, theosophy exercised an extraordinary influence on various spheres of cultural commitment, which continued to look with confidence at opportunity to contribute to the progress of humanity. The construction of an allegorical mythology on the imminent advent of a New Era especially involved the culture of education, generating elements of profound renewal of pedagogical knowledge and initiative in the educational field. The investment of energy on the goodness of the principles and methods of Montessori pedagogy was only one of the most significant aspects that this innovative frontier assumed in the pedagogical area, particularly supported by theosophical networks. The rediscovery of the remarkable contribution that theosophical culture as a whole offered in favor of the organization of a 'theory' of New Education therefore constitutes an important historiographical operation, to understand how, also in Italy, between ideal aspirations, illusions and generous prophetic impulses, a new pedagogy - modern, democratic, liberal and mondial / globalist - opened up decisive spaces to begin to change the contemporary horizons of education.

Language: Italian

Published: Santarcangelo di Romagna, Italy: Maggioli, 2020

ISBN: 978-88-916-4601-9