Nature and education. The historical heritage of open-air schools in Italy
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14516/ete.559Keywords:
History of education, Open air schools, Outdoor education, Italy, 20th centuryAbstract
The Covid-19 pandemic has dramatically drawn our attention to the central issue of hygiene and the possibility to bring school education outdoors and into natural settings. In fact, international pedagogic thought has focused on a ‘nature-deficit disorder’ in today’s children for some time (Louv, 2005), as well as the need to review the prevailing form of school settings, no longer privileging indoor locations but rather outdoor environments. This contribution aims to focus on the experiences of open-air schools which, from the early 20th century onwards, have fought the hygienic and medical battle against the tuberculosis «pandemic», aiming to rediscover nature and the outdoors as a privileged educational environment for primary school children. Widespread internationally, these experiences foster the rediscovery of the educational value of outdoor settings and nature in all its scientific and cultural aspects, and, precisely because of their open-air environment, they have been promoters of self-government, responsibility, co-education, collective discovery, within the framework of the spread of international pedagogic activism. In particular, using lesser-known archive source and more recent bibliographical references, the attention here focuses on open air schools set up and developed in Italy from the early 20th century, fully-fledged examples of international outdoor schools that go way beyond those which have been known until now. Finally, it will take a look at the key experiences and personalities who have promoted a renewed form of education through nature in open air schools in Italy.
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Dalben, A. (2019). Las escuelas al aire libre uruguayas: creación y circulación de saberes. Educación Física y Ciencia, 21(2). https://doi.org/10.24215/23142561e075
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Louv, R. (2005). Last child in the woods: Saving our children from nature-deficit disorder. Atlantic Books.
Luc, J. (2003). L’école de plein air: une histoire a découvrir. In A. Châtelet, D. Lerch & J. Luc (Eds.), L’école de plein air: une expérience pédagogique et architecturale dans l’Europe du XXe siècle (pp. 7-20). Éditions Recherches.
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Mingarelli, A. (1919). La scuola all’aperto. Cooperativa Tipografia Mareggiani.
Randi, A. (1910). I ricreatori e le scuole all’aperto a Padova. L’igiene della scuola (1).
Rodriguez Méndez, F. J. (2003). Architectural Renewal and Open Air Education in Spain (1910-1936). In A. M. Châtelet, L. Dominique & J. N. Luc, L’école de plein air. Une expérience pédagogique et architecturale dans l’Europe du XX siècle/Open-Air Schools. An Educational and Architectural Venture in Twentieth-Century Europe (pp. 148-167). Editions Recherches.
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Savoye, A. (2003). Écoles de plein air et educatión nouvelle en France (1920-1950), In A. Châtelet, D. Lerch & J. Luc (Eds.), L’école de plein air: une expérience pédagogique et architecturale dans l’Europe du XXe siècle (pp. 280-288). Éditions Recherches.
Thyssen, G. (2007). Visualizing discipline of the body in a German open air school (1923-1939): retrospection and introspection. History of education, (36/2), 249-251.
Thyssen, G. (2009). New education within an architectural icon? A case study of Milanese open air school (1922-1977). History of Education & Children’s Literature, IV, 243-266.
Thyssen, G., Herman, F., Kusters, W., Van Ruyskensvelde, S., & Depaepe. M. (2010). From popular to unpopular education? The open-air school(s) of «Pont-Rouge», Roubaix (1921-1978). History of Education & Children’s Literature, (V, 2), 199-227.
Thyssen, G. (2015). Engineered Communities? Industry, open-air schools, and imaginaries of belonging (c. 1913-1963). History of Education & Children’s Literature, (X, 2), 297-320.
Thyssen, G. (2018). Boundlessly entangled: non-/human performances of education for health through open-air schools. Paedagogica historica, 54(5), 659-676. https://doi.org/10.1080/00309230.2018.1472617
Tognotti, E. (2012). Il morbo lento. La tisi nell’Italia dell’Ottocento. Franco Angeli.
Tomarchio, M., & D’Aprile, G. (Eds.) (2011). Educazione Nuova e Scuola Attiva in Europa all’alba del ‘900. Figure ed esperienze, numero monografico de «I Problemi della pedagogia», (4-6), vol. II. Anicia.
M. Tomarchio, & L. Todaro (2017). Spazi formativi, modelli e pratiche di educazione all’aperto nel primo Novecento. Milano: Maggioli Editore.
Brunelli, M. (2013). From nature guiding to nature interpretation in the United States (1872-1920). The origins of the professional practice of heritage interpretation: between protection and education. History of Education & Children’s Literature, VIII(1), 399-428.
Bryder, L. (1988). Below the Magic Mountain: A Social History of Tuberculosis in Twentieth Century Britain. Oxford University Press.
Casadio, Q. (2006). Una scuola nel verde. Dalla Scuola All’Aperto al tempo Pieno della Pelloni Tabanelli. Editrice La Mandragora.
Châtelet, A. M. (2003). L’école de plein air. Une expérience pédagogique et architecturale dans l’Europe du XX siècle/Open-Air Schools. An Educational and Architectural Venture in Twentieth-Century Europe. Editions Recherces.
Châtelet, A. M. (2008). A breath of fresh air. Open-air schools in Europe. In M. Gutman & N. De Coninck-Smith, Designing Modern Childhood. History, space, and the material culture of children (pp. 107-127). Rutgers University Press.
Châtelet, A. M. (2011). Le souffle du plein air. Histoire d’un projet pédagogique et architectural novateur (1904-1952). Metis Presses.
Dalben, A. (2019). Las escuelas al aire libre uruguayas: creación y circulación de saberes. Educación Física y Ciencia, 21(2). https://doi.org/10.24215/23142561e075
Dalben, A., & Silva, H. M. (2020, Dicembre). Sol e ar fresco no combate à tuberculose: experiências de educação ao ar livre no Rio de Janeiro (1910-1920). Cad. Cedes. Campinas, 40 (112), 218-232.
D’Ascenzo, M. (2015). Per una storia dei diritti dell’infanzia. Le scuole all’aperto nel primo Novecento in Italia. In M. Tomarchio & S. Ulivieri, Pedagogia militante. Diritti, culture, territori (pp. 675-681). ETS.
D’Ascenzo, M. (2017). Le esperienze di scuola all’aperto in Italia nel primo Novecento. Avvio di un’indagine. In M. Tomarchio & L. Todaro. Spazi formativi, modelli e pratiche di educazione all’aperto nel primo Novecento (pp. 101-122). Maggioli Editore, 101-122.
D’Ascenzo, M. (2018a). Educazione e scuole all’aperto nella storia dell’educazione del primo Novecento. In R. Farnè, A. Bortolotti & M. Terrusi, Outdoor education. Prospettive teoriche e buone pratiche (pp. 45-49). Carocci.
D’Ascenzo, M. (2018b). Nas orixes das escolas ao aire libre. O caso italiano, Sarmiento. Revista Galego. Portuguesa de Historia de la Educación (22), 69-78.
D’Ascenzo, M. (2018c). Per una storia delle scuole all’aperto in Italia. ETS.
D’Ascenzo, M. (2019). Patrimonio storico educativo in vetrina. Appunti su una recente mostra sulle scuole all’aperto tra passato e futuro. History of Education & Children’s Literature, XIV, 843-859.
D’Ascenzo, M. (2020). Maestri, maestre e didattica nelle scuole all’aperto, quale professionalità?, In M. Ferrari, M. Morandi (Eds.), Maestri e pratiche educative dall’Ottocento a oggi. Contributi per una storia della didattica (pp. 189-210). Morcelliana.
Depaepe, M., & Thyssen, G. (2012). Essor et Déclin d’une Ecole de Plein Air: Le Centre Dupré de Roubaix (v. 1921-1978), Revue du Nord (94), 947-965.
Dupertuis, J. (1922). L’école plein air et le Bureau international des écoles plein air. Librerie centrale et universitaire.
Fratus, F. (1914). La scuola all’aperto. Relazione di un esperimento con fanciulli normali. R. Bemporad.
Fröbel, F. (1826). L’educazione dell’uomo (1923 ed.). La Nuova Italia.
Gasca Diez, M., & Nobile-Ventura, G. (1925). La nuova scuola all’aperto. Relazione alla Commissione nominata dal R. Commissario per il riordinamento della scuola all’aperto presentata dalla Dott. ssa Maria Diez Gasca e dal Prof. G. Nobile-Ventura. Tipografia Ditta L. Cecchini.
Lombardo Radice, G. (1927). L’Ecole Active dans la réforme du Ministre Gentile et dans les classes expérimentales dites de différenciation didactique. In A. Ferrière, L’aube de l’école sereine en Italie. Crémius.
Louv, R. (2005). Last child in the woods: Saving our children from nature-deficit disorder. Atlantic Books.
Luc, J. (2003). L’école de plein air: une histoire a découvrir. In A. Châtelet, D. Lerch & J. Luc (Eds.), L’école de plein air: une expérience pédagogique et architecturale dans l’Europe du XXe siècle (pp. 7-20). Éditions Recherches.
Ludwig, H. (2003). Les écoles de plein air en Allemagne, une forme de l’éducation nouvelle. In A. M. Châtelet, D. Lerch & J.N. Luc, L’école de plein air: une expérience pédagogique et architecturale dans l’Europe du XXe siècle (pp. 39-50). Editions Recherches.
Martinez, J. M. (2000). De las escuelas al aire libre a las aulas de la naturaleza. AREAS: Revista Internacional de Ciencias Sociales (20), 171-182.
Mingarelli, A. (1919). La scuola all’aperto. Cooperativa Tipografia Mareggiani.
Randi, A. (1910). I ricreatori e le scuole all’aperto a Padova. L’igiene della scuola (1).
Rodriguez Méndez, F. J. (2003). Architectural Renewal and Open Air Education in Spain (1910-1936). In A. M. Châtelet, L. Dominique & J. N. Luc, L’école de plein air. Une expérience pédagogique et architecturale dans l’Europe du XX siècle/Open-Air Schools. An Educational and Architectural Venture in Twentieth-Century Europe (pp. 148-167). Editions Recherches.
Rousseau, J. J. (1762). Emilio o dell’educazione, a cura di E. Nardi, (1995). La Nuova Italia.
Savoye, A. (2003). Écoles de plein air et educatión nouvelle en France (1920-1950), In A. Châtelet, D. Lerch & J. Luc (Eds.), L’école de plein air: une expérience pédagogique et architecturale dans l’Europe du XXe siècle (pp. 280-288). Éditions Recherches.
Thyssen, G. (2007). Visualizing discipline of the body in a German open air school (1923-1939): retrospection and introspection. History of education, (36/2), 249-251.
Thyssen, G. (2009). New education within an architectural icon? A case study of Milanese open air school (1922-1977). History of Education & Children’s Literature, IV, 243-266.
Thyssen, G., Herman, F., Kusters, W., Van Ruyskensvelde, S., & Depaepe. M. (2010). From popular to unpopular education? The open-air school(s) of «Pont-Rouge», Roubaix (1921-1978). History of Education & Children’s Literature, (V, 2), 199-227.
Thyssen, G. (2015). Engineered Communities? Industry, open-air schools, and imaginaries of belonging (c. 1913-1963). History of Education & Children’s Literature, (X, 2), 297-320.
Thyssen, G. (2018). Boundlessly entangled: non-/human performances of education for health through open-air schools. Paedagogica historica, 54(5), 659-676. https://doi.org/10.1080/00309230.2018.1472617
Tognotti, E. (2012). Il morbo lento. La tisi nell’Italia dell’Ottocento. Franco Angeli.
Tomarchio, M., & D’Aprile, G. (Eds.) (2011). Educazione Nuova e Scuola Attiva in Europa all’alba del ‘900. Figure ed esperienze, numero monografico de «I Problemi della pedagogia», (4-6), vol. II. Anicia.
Tomarchio, M., & L. Todaro (2017). Spazi formativi, modelli e pratiche di educazione all’aperto nel primo Novecento. Milano: Maggioli Editore.
