HISTORY OF SCHOOL AND EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS

The course, divided into two parts, aims to introduce students to the study of the history of schools and educational institutions.

One part of the course will be devoted to the history of schools, childcare centres, and early childhood education services in Italy, from the pre-Unification period to the present day. It will enable students to learn about: 1) the most significant stages in the process of establishing and consolidating the national school system; 2) the difficulties encountered at the local level by some municipal administrations, particularly in Southern Italy, in combating illiteracy; 3) the role played by the establishment of the Scuola Normale Femminile (Female Teacher Training School) as an unprecedented opportunity to promote women's access to formal education and paid public employment after Italian Unification.

During the lectures, students will also take part in a non-compulsory workshop activity devoted to reconstructing their personal school experience (autobiographies, interviews, personal archival sources, etc.), with the aim of encouraging reflection on and comparison between school in the past and school today.

One part of the course will be devoted to the history of educational institutions, with particular emphasis on prisons. Through this section, students will be able to examine the development of the legal and pedagogical profession, as well as the tools and intervention methodologies used in the scientific observation and rehabilitative treatment of adult and juvenile prisoners.

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.

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

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 operate through the production of situated knowledge.

Teaching activities will alternate among lectures; group activities and practical exercises; research activities; viewing of videos related to the course content; and workshop activities.

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 history of Pedagogy and Education.

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 schools, childcare centres, and early childhood education services:

-        The civil and cultural revolutions of the Enlightenment and the emergence of public schooling.

-        The history of schooling in Italy, from the Casati Law to the most recent reforms.

-        The history of childcare centres and early childhood education services in Italy.

-        The history of elementary schooling from Italian Unification to the Giolittian era (1861–1914): the case of Catania.

-        The Royal Teacher Training School of Catania and women's access to formal education and paid public employment after Italian Unification.

History of prisons and the legal and pedagogical profession:

-  A historical overview of the conception of imprisonment and punishment.

-        Treatment and rehabilitation under Law No. 354 of 26 July 1975.

-  From “entertainment-oriented treatment” to the “institutional pedagogical project”.

-   Historical notes on the organization and technical management of educational interventions in Juvenile Penal Institutions (IPM).

-        The new guidelines for juvenile services.

-  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, and educational and vocational activities.

General Section: History of schools, childcare centres, and early childhood education services in Italy

1. S. Santamaita, Storia della Scuola. Dalla scuola al sistema formativo, Pearson, Milan, 2021, pp. 9–227 (218 pp.).

2. N. S. Barbieri, Asili nido e servizi educativi per la prima infanzia in Italia. Lineamenti storici, fondamenti pedagogici, modalità operative, Cleup, Padua, 2015, pp. 11–49 (38 pp.). Open Access version available online.

Special Section: History of Educational Institutions

3. S. Lentini, L’educazione in carcere. Profili storico-pedagogici della pena, Fondazione Nazionale “Vito Fazio-Allmayer”, Palermo, 2012 (150 pp.).

Monographic Section: History of Schooling in Southern Italy

One volume of the following:

4. S. Lentini, L’istruzione elementare a Catania dall’Unità all’età giolittiana. Mappa ragionata, Aracne, Rome, 2024, pp. 31–253 (222 pp.).

or

4. G. Denaro, Il mestiere di maestra nel XIX secolo tra retoriche sontuose e sfide quotidiane. Il caso della Provincia di Catania (1861–1914), PensaMultimedia, Lecce, 2026, pp. 1–145 (145 pp.).

The oral examination for the course History of School and Educational Institutions 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.

-        The Casati Law.

-        The Gentile Reform.

-        School during the Fascist period.

-        School in the Constitution of the Italian Republic.

-        Teacher training after the Casati Law.

-        The pedagogical project in prison.