The Montessori Movement in Interwar Europe

"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 l'enfant: Philosophie et pédagogie au siècle des Lumières (2002) and Positivism med mänskligt ansikte: Montessoripedagogikens idéhistoriska grunder (2005). Her research focuses on the intersection between science, politics and educational ideas.

Autorentext

Christine Quarfood is Professor of History of Ideas at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. Her publications include Condillac la statue et l'enfant: Philosophie et pédagogie au siècle des Lumières (2002) and Positivism med mänskligt ansikte: Montessoripedagogikens idéhistoriska grunder (2005). Her research focuses on the intersection between science, politics and educational ideas.