Maria Montessori from the past to the present. Reception and implementation of her educational method in Italy on the 150th anniversary of her birth.

Principal Investigator: Prof. Tiziana Pironi 

UNIBO’s role: Principal Investigator  

Project Team: Grandi William, Cavana Laura, Casadei Rita, Gallerani Manuela, De Giorgi Fulvio 

Partners:  

Prof. Paola Trabalzini,  Libera Università degli Studi "Maria SS. Assunta" – LUMSA, Roma  

Prof.  Andrea Bobbio, Università della Valle d'Aosta, Aosta 

Prof.  Andrea Mangiatordi, Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca 

Project Duration: 36 (extended)

Start Date: 19/08/2019

End date: 19/08/2023

Status: active 

Total Budget: 432.407 euro  

UNIBO Budget: 129.355 euro 

Project’s Topics: Maria Montessori, Education, Montessori schools 

Description: This project aims to reconstruct the figure and work of Maria Montessori, as well as the spread of her method in Italy from its beginning to the present day. The project is structured to facilitate a coherent exploration of multiple dimensions of Montessori’s pedagogy (historical, cultural, political, social, and educational). In particular, the project will focus on her relational networks, on the importance of indoor and outdoor settings, on the mapping of Montessori schools in Italy since 1907, compared to data on the international spread of Montessori schools. Finally, it will focus on the implications for teacher education starting from the historical development of training centres and courses for early childhood education practitioners and kindergarten, primary and lower secondary teachers, since 1909, nowadays active in Italy. It will also examine the evidence of the impact that they can offer to current didactic innovation. 

The research team will draw on a historiographical and critical approach, as well as on observations, interviews, and analysis of existing data. 

The output of the research project will be part of an encyclopaedic work entitled "The Montessori Atlas", to be presented at a Congress in 2020 on the 150th anniversary of Maria Montessori’s birth.