SOCIAL HISTORY OF EDUCATION

The course, divided into two parts, aims to introduce first-year students to the study of Pedagogy as a science of education from a historical perspective.

The first part of the course will provide students with the essential foundations of pedagogical theories, together with the related educational practices that developed from Ancient Egypt to the present day, with the twofold objective of:

1)     highlighting the relationship between education and society, whereby every educational opportunity represents a concrete social experience, and pedagogical interventions of various kinds derive from specific ideological and political choices;

2)     providing a brief history of pedagogical epistemology that presents, in chronological order, the most significant historical stages in the development that led Pedagogy to establish itself as an autonomous scientific field of knowledge in the twentieth century.

This first part of the lectures will enable students to recognize the central social significance of education as an element structurally functional to the individual's participation in civil society, to the construction and sharing of culture, values, and socially accepted rules, while also examining the development of Pedagogy as a science of education.

The second part of the lectures will focus on the relationship between deviance and education and on the evolution of educational practices in the prison context. Its aim is to explore the history of education in juvenile correctional institutions, through which students will be able to examine the development of the legal and pedagogical profession, as well as the tools and intervention methodologies used in scientific observation and rehabilitative treatment in Juvenile Penal Institutions.

The expected learning outcomes, articulated according to the Dublin Descriptors, are as follows:

Knowledge and Understanding (DD1)

Knowledge of theories and models in the field of Pedagogy in order to interpret educational and training events from a historical-evolutionary and political-economic perspective.

Knowledge and use of the basic terminology of the discipline.

Applying Knowledge and Understanding (DD2)

Ability to connect the theoretical and methodological content acquired with the interpretation of past, present, and future events and processes.

Promotion of integration among educational, social, and cultural services.

Ability to identify connections between educational theories, policies, and the contexts in which individuals develop within institutions.

Making Judgements (DD3)

Ability to synthesize the different approaches found in theories of education and training.

Communication Skills (DD4)

Ability to justify objectives, procedures, and methodologies in different forms.

Learning Skills (DD5)

Ability to promote processes of change in the contexts in which educators/trainers operate through the production of situated knowledge.

Teaching activities will alternate among lectures; group activities and practical exercises; critical reading of pedagogical “classics”; reading and analysis of decrees, circulars, directives, administrative measures, and notes issued by the prison administration; viewing of videos related to the course content; and, where possible, meetings with professionals working in the prison sector.

Should the course be delivered in blended or distance-learning mode, the necessary adjustments may be introduced in relation to the arrangements stated above, in order to comply with the programme set out in the syllabus.

Basic knowledge of the context of general history, with particular reference to political-institutional, cultural, and intellectual history.

Attendance is not compulsory, but is strongly recommended because of the particular methods used to deliver the course programme. During the lectures, students may be asked to demonstrate their understanding of the basic concepts covered in the programme through various types of exercises (study groups, short presentations, etc.).

History of pedagogical theories and practices, from Ancient Egypt to the present day:

Knowledge and power in antiquity; Christian Paideia; the process of secularization of education; the new scientific method; Comenius; Rousseau; Helvétius; Pestalozzi; Fröebel; Herbart; Itard; Séguin; Positivism in Italy (Angiulli, Siciliani, Ardigò, Villari, Gabelli); Progressive Education; Decroly; Claparède; Ferrière; Montessori; Dewey; Durkheim; Gentile; deschooling and critical pedagogies (Illich, Freire, Don Milani); behaviorism; Skinner; Piaget; Bruner; Vygotsky; the complexity paradigm (Morin).

The relationship between deviance and education, and the history of education in prison:

“at-risk” minors, educational intervention, and social responsibility; disorder, marginality, and deviance: education as transformation; a historical overview of the conception of imprisonment and punishment; models of justice: retributive, rehabilitative, and restorative; legal institutions and provisions for minors; treatment and rehabilitation under Law No. 354 of 26 July 1975; historical overview of the organization and technical management of educational interventions in Juvenile Penal Institutions (IPM); new guidelines for juvenile services; the Institutional Project and the Individualized Educational Plan; educational intervention under Legislative Decree No. 121 of 2 October 2018, “Regulations governing the enforcement of sentences imposed on juvenile offenders”; elements of treatment: the pedagogical interview, the initial admission interview, the support interview, the interview conducted as part of “observation and treatment” activities, prison work; educational and vocational activities.

General Section: History of Pedagogical Epistemology

1. S. Santamaita, Storia dell’educazione e delle pedagogie, Pearson, Milano 2025  (270 pp.)

Special Section: Deviance and Rehabilitative Treatment

2 P. Bertolini, L. Caronia, Ragazzi difficili. Pedagogia interpretativa e linee di intervento, FrancoAngeli, Milano 2021, pp. 33-190 (157 pp.)

3. A. Mangione, A. Pulvirenti (a cura di), La giustizia penale minorile: formazione, devianza, diritto e processo, Giuffré Francis Lefebvre, Milano 2020, pp. 1-57; 624-644 (77 pp.)

4. G. Sartarelli, Pedagogia penitenziaria e della devianza. Osservazione della personalità ed elementi del trattamento. Nuova ediz., Carocci, Roma 2023, pp. 31-55; 69-80; 91-117; 119-137 (79 pp.) 

The oral examination for the course Social History of Education takes place at the end of the course, according to an official schedule published on the DISFOR website. The final assessment awarded by the examination board will take into account, overall, the following general evaluation criteria:

-        breadth and coherence of the treatment of the topics;

-        accuracy in the use of specialized terminology;

-        level of in-depth understanding and ability to establish theoretical connections;

-        ability to relate knowledge to the specific contexts and fields of intervention in which educators operate.

The grade is expressed on a scale of thirty according to the following criteria:

Fail

Insufficient knowledge of the main topics. Little or no ability to use specialized terminology.

18–21

Barely sufficient or sufficient knowledge and understanding of the topics; limited ability to analyze and synthesize the issues addressed and to present them clearly.

22–25

Fair knowledge and understanding of the main topics, together with a fair ability to critically analyze and synthesize them. Appropriate use of terminology.

26–28

Good knowledge of the topics; good ability to synthesize and critically analyze them; good ability to establish connections between different topics; appropriate use of terminology in oral presentation.

29–30

Full knowledge and advanced understanding of the topics; excellent ability to connect different themes, with appropriate use of specialized terminology.

30 with Honors (Lode)

Excellent knowledge and understanding of the topics; excellent ability to critically analyze and connect the themes, with appropriate use of specialized terminology.

N.B. Assessment of learning may also be conducted remotely, should circumstances require it.

1. The relationship between social structure and educational processes in social history.

2. Define the content and rationale of critical pedagogy.

3. The scientific method of Pedagogy and the interpretation of the “individual–society–culture” relationship.