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: The Società Umanitaria of Milan, between 1918 and 1923, played an essential role in spreading and developing the Montessori Method. Studying in the Historical Archive of Società Umanitaria the numerous documents there collected, the author reconstructed the crucial moments of the extremely significant collaboration between Maria Montessori and Augusto Osimo, General Secretary of the Società Umanitaria. This complex and in-depth investigation was guided by the analysis, in specific, of the training courses for Montessori teachers organised by Società Umanitaria, essentially unexamined before this study, that allowed the researcher to have a deep insight into the action of Società Umanitaria aimed to promote and implement the Montessori Method in Italy and all around the world.

Language: Italian

DOI: 10.6092/issn.1970-2221/5359

ISSN: 1970-2221

Abstract/Notes: This paper examines some historical parallels in the field of children’s literature and education between Sweden and Italy in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Sweden and Italy are at the opposite ends of Europe, but they exhibited some interesting similarities in children’s book and pedagogy during those decades. Suffice it to say that two of the most important European education experts of the time – the Swede Ellen Key and the Italian Maria Montessori – were in relationship, appreciated each other’s work and exchanged ideas and remarks on educational and social issues. Parallels cannot obscure the large differences between the two nations, but there were also convergences that must be examined: researches on folktales, mass education and education of the élite were important issues in both countries. Moreover the convergences will intensify further in the coming decades, because Sweden and Italy belong to the same European context.

Language: English

DOI: 10.6092/issn.1970-2221/4362

ISSN: 1970-2221

Abstract/Notes: Il contributo affronta una possibile analisi inerente al rapporto tra infanzia, famiglia ed istituzione educativa a partire da un’indagine osservativa condotta nella realtà di un nido ad indirizzo montessoriano. Attraverso la rappresentazione della vita quotidiana dei bambini - inseriti al nido aziendale “La Casa del Cedro”, organizzato dal Centro Nascita Montessori (CNM) di Roma - viene restituita la valenza euristica dell’approccio montessoriano e il suo inconfondibile contributo all’educazione globale ed estetica, per l’infanzia del tempo presente. [The essay presents an analysis of the relationship infancy/family/children’s institutions through a survey carried out on the reality of a Montessorian crèche. Through the representation of the children’s daily life in the company crèche “Cedro”, organized by the Centro Nascita Montessori (CNM) in Rome, we will give an idea of the intrinsic value of the Montessorian approach, its relevance and its inimitable contribution to education in present time.]

Language: Italian

DOI: 10.6092/issn.1970-2221/1761

ISSN: 1970-2221

Abstract/Notes: In the modernization era, at the beginning of the twentieth-century, the preschool institutions’question became the core of the padagogic debate in the Italian society. A relevant contribution was given by the women’s emancipation process that brouhgt towards a modern concept of assistance, such as the overcoming of the idea of nursery schools only as places for safekeeping. It was underlined, in fact, their important educational function to childhood care. Exactly in that period, two educational experiences occurred, attracting politicians’ and pedagogists’ attention: the birth of Rosa Agazzi’s pre-school, expression of a mostly agricultural and peasant Italy, and the Maria Montessori’s “Casa dei bambini” (Children’s house), designed into an upgrading town planning scheme, in the degraded districts of Rome and Milan.

Language: Italian

DOI: 10.6092/issn.1970-2221/1523

ISSN: 1970-2221

Language: French

ISSN: 0035-3841

Abstract/Notes: In questa prima fase della ricerca - ancora in itinere - si compie un’analisi storico-pedagogica del rapporto infanzia/famiglie/istituzioni. L’indagine si focalizza sulle trasformazioni dei modelli familiari, visti nella loro interdipendenza con l’elaborazione di nuove pratiche educative. Al riguardo, l’avvento del’900 si profila come un passaggio importante, che trova un suo esito nel volume di Ellen Key, Il secolo dei fanciulli. Proprio in quest’opera, la scrittrice svedese elabora una nuova idea di “maternità” e di “paternità” che pone al centro i bisogni e le esigenze infantili. La sua prospettiva diventa oggetto di dibattito, agli inizi del secolo scorso, sia in campo pedagogico, sia in campo femminista, soprattutto in merito al dilemma per la donna di coniugare insieme sfera pubblica e sfera privata, maternità e autonomia individuale. Secondo l’ipotesi qui evidenziata è in particolare Maria Montessori a raccogliere la sfida di Ellen Key, con il suo esperimento pedagogico della “Casa dei bambini”, in cui lo spazio domestico, “privato” si trasforma in uno spazio scolastico, “pubblico”, a misura di “bambino” (valenza estetica degli ambienti, cura delle relazioni umane, ecc.). [In the first phase of research it conducts an historical and pedagogical analysis on the relationship between childhoods, families and institutions, identifying family-models changes and their interdependence with the elaboration of new educative practices. At the beginning of twentieth century, Ellen Key wrote the famous book The century of children. Following the introduction of Modernity age, the author defined a new idea of “motherhood” and “fatherhood” which focused on childish subjects’ needs and requirements. Her prospective became item of debate both in pedagogic and in feminist fields, especially in regard to women’s dilemma on how to combine public and private life, motherhood and individual autonomy. In particular, Maria Montessori took up the Ellen Key challenge, in fact she made the pedagogical experiment of Children’s House, where domestic space became institutional space (settings’ aesthetic quality, human relationships’ care).]

Language: Italian

DOI: 10.6092/issn.1970-2221/1767

ISSN: 1970-2221

Abstract/Notes: L’articolo presenta una ricerca basata sull’osservazione di un contesto educativo di ispirazione montessoriana. La ricerca intendeva mettere in luce gli atteggiamenti, le proposte e le strategie delle educatrici, e le risposte dei bambini a queste sollecitazioni. Il testo si articola in una introduzione metodologica che illustra il tipo di servizio educativo, la metodologia di osservazione adottata e la traccia che ha gui-dato le osservazioni; seguono alcune considerazioni sull’autonomia del bambino, l’attenzione al singolo bambino e la cura del bambino, emerse dalla analisi delle osservazioni; conclude l’articolo la trascrizione di una delle tre osservazioni condotte. [The paper presents an observational study carried on in an early educational context inspired to Montessori approach. It is aimed at illustrating the educators’ attitudes, behaviours, and educational strategies and the children’s reactions to them. First, the educational approach of the centre and the observational methodology are described. Then, a detailed analysis of the observations with regard to the educators’ support to child autonomy, attention to children’s requests and needs, and care behaviours is presented. Finally, the transcript of a whole observation is reported.]

Language: Italian

DOI: 10.6092/issn.1970-2221/1760

ISSN: 1970-2221

Abstract/Notes: Article presented at International Workshop “Children and Families; critical issues and socio-cultural resources”, Bologna October 16th 2009.

Language: Italian

DOI: 10.6092/issn.1970-2221/1772

ISSN: 1970-2221

Abstract/Notes: Nella riflessione montessoriana, la figura dell’insegnante assume significati altamente innovativi che ne rivelano il grado estremo di complessità, evidenziando suggestive e mai risolte ambivalenze. [In Montessori's reflection, the figure of the teacher takes on highly innovative meanings that reveal the extreme degree of complexity, highlighting suggestive and never resolved ambivalences.]

Language: Italian

DOI: 10.6092/issn.1970-2221/1491

ISSN: 1970-2221