Il quaderno di scuola: un efficace strumento di Public History of Education

Abstract

Between the 19th and 20th centuries School Exercise Books became important tools for learning (reading and counting). Today Notebooks are considered a significant source for the History of Education, but they can also be used as tools for Public History of Education. The essay examines two cases. In the first, teacher Celestina Rossi’s exercise books (school year 1924-25) – accidentally found – represent the life of a small school in Emilia Romagna. These Notebooks were transformed into a book, a theatrical drama and educational walks. The second case, instead, concerns the NPO Quaderni Aperti, founded by Anna Teresa Ronchi and Thomas Pololi in 2014. The organisation uses the contents of an archive of about 2500 notebooks coming from 36 countries (Exercise Books Archive / Archivio dei Quaderni di Scuola), built through a participatory approach to develop different kinds of projects, the most important of which is the Museum of Children’s Notebooks.