The Montessori Movement in Interwar Europe : New Perspectives

"Of all the things I have read about Maria Montessori so far, this book is without doubt the best. Based on thorough research in archives, it examines the significance of Montessori and her movement, especially in her homeland of Italy, but not without including the international context of her career. For without the latter, the political relationship with fascism cannot be properly understood. From this perspective, the book offers many new insights and important nuances and justified corrections to all previous studies on the legacy of this leading lady in the history of education, whose name is inextricably linked to the "Casa dei Bambini". It is in these "houses for children" that she, as an Italian doctor, educator and innovator, sought to apply her educational method that built on the way children learn naturally - an adventure that set in motion a whole series of adepts, followers, imitators, defenders, etc., here superbly handled by Christine Quarfood." Marc Depaepe, Emeritus Professor in the History of Education at the University of Leuven, Belgium, and Leading Researcher at the University of Latvia. This book explores how the Montessori movement developed a cultural critique and gained momentum during the interwar years of political turbulence. Drawing on archival sources, press material and Montessori's literary output, the book provides a multifaceted analysis of this significant educational movement. The first two chapters presents the scientific background, how Montessori's innovative method offered new solutions to age-old problems of teacher-pupil interaction. The following chapters focus on the social and psycho-pedagogical aspects of Montessorism, and how the movement's culture-critical message about the child's liberation was received and reinterpreted in the wider European public debate. The last four chapters shed new light on the politicisation of Italian Montessorism during the problematic Montessori-Mussolini alliance, 1924-1934. Christine Quarfood is Professor of History of Ideas at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. Her publications include Condillac la statue et lenfant: Philosophie et pedagogie au siecle des Lumieres (2002) and Positivism med manskligt ansikte: Montessoripedagogikens idehistoriska grunder (2005). Her research focuses on the intersection between science, politics and educational ideas Acknowledgements Contents About the Author Abbreviations 1: Situating Montessori 1.1 Introduction 1.2 Montessori’s Early Medical Career 1.3 The Casa dei bambini Experiment 1.4 The Preschool Debate Preceding Casa dei bambini 2: The Invisible Montessori Teacher 2.1 The Glass House: Montessori’s Panopticon 2.2 The Prepared Environment 2.3 The Principle of Non-intervention 3: Influencing Public Opinion 3.1 The Dynamics of the Movement 3.2 The Social Agenda: Children’s Rights 4: Individual Work: British Montessorism 4.1 The 1919 London Course 4.2 Teachers and Teaching Materials 5: The Call of Education 5.1 The First International Montessori Journal 5.2 New Children in a New World 5.3 Psychopedagogical Perspectives 5.4 Sensitive Periods: Schuyten and Montessori 6: Politicisation of Italian Montessorism 6.1 Previous Research into the Montessori/Mussolini Cooperation 6.2 Montessori Pro et Contra 7: Opera Nazionale Montessori 7.1 From the Gentile Reform to the 1926 Milan Course 7.2 L’Idea Montessori 1927–1929 8: Imperial and Pacifist Visions 8.1 AMI: Montessori’s Spiritual Empire 8.2 Peace Education 9: Montessorism Without Montessori 9.1 Polizia Politica and the Sorge Affair 9.2 The 1934 Rome Congress: Exit Montessori Timeline Index