The course aims to deal with three fundamental moments of childhood and infancy pedagogy, with a theoretical and historical attitude at the same time. We will try to identify the most significant and recurring characteristics that, from the mid-nineteenth century to today, have defined the structure of the theories and methods of school and early education care services.

In particular, we will analyze: 1) the theories of infant development of Piaget and Vygotskij, which represent the classic sources of evolutionary psychology for the science of education and for early years pedagogy; 2) the history of childhood pedagogy that starts from Froebel and Kergomard's proposals, which were the first to allow educational technicians to think and manage a pre-elementary school service, to move on to the Italian experience of Agazzi and Montessori, and to arrive the new turn school (scuola a nuovo indirizzo) which established itself in Italy in the 70s and 80s. Of all the authors and phases will be highlighted the discussion of the role of the teacher, the child's play, the design of environments and teaching tools, the theory of the curriculum; 3) the birth of a pedagogical model of the Italian nursery and pre-school which, starting from the debate within the "Gruppo Nazionale Nidi e Infanzia", has seen the birth of an integrated system of municipal and private educational services that focuses its identity around a strong and recurrent reflection on some themes, as: attachment, educational planning, planning of spaces and materials, the role of the educator, observation and evaluation.

1) Piaget and Vygotskij's theories of development. Balancing of cognitive structures. Organization and adaptation. Assimilation and accommodation. Action scheme. Development stages. Concrete thinking and abstract thinking. Proximal zone of development. Internalization and outsourcing. Socioconstructivism.

2) Froebel and Kergomard. The Froebelian pedagogical theory. The birth of the kindergartens. The Froebelian movement in the world. The birth of the école maternelle. The organization of a social, welfare and educational service.

3) Montessori and Agazzi, the Italian methods. Maria Montessori life and thought. Development materials: between teaching, methodology and curriculum. The Agazzi sisters and the organization of a school for everyone. Singing and the role of music in childhood education.

4) New turn school (scuola a nuovo indirizzo). Ciari and the Bologna experience. Frabboni, from the languages ​​of kindergarten to the integrated system. Malaguzzi and the experience of Reggiochildren.

5) The nursery in the 70': an educational service of the municipalities. The nursery movement and "Gruppo nazionale nidi". Attachment. Programming and design the nursery. Care and learning at the nursery. Observe childhood in the nursery. Assess the quality of the nursery.

“Knowledge and Understanding” The learner at the end of the course must be able to know the history and nature of the pedagogy that inspired the educational services for early childhood. The knowledge learned must be articulated in a reflection that presents traits of originality.

“Applying Knowledge and Understanding” The learner will have to make a practical application of the knowledge acquired, showing that he is able to use the knowledge learned in contexts other than academic, with particular regard to those working in the early and second childhood education sector.

“Making Judgments” The learner must be able to autonomously deepen what he has learned, using the knowledge gained to reach further results characterized by an ever greater maturity and an ever wider autonomy of judgment.

"Communication" The learner must acquire the ability to convey to their interlocutors, in a clear and complete way, the knowledge acquired, through the use of an appropriate technical language, both in terms of psychological, pedagogical and historical concepts.

“Lifelong Learning Skill”. The learner will have to deepen their knowledge through a path of research and study on the primary and secondary sources presented during the course.

The teaching material prepared by the lecturer in addition to recommended textbooks (such as for instance slides, lecture notes, exercises, bibliography) and communications from the lecturer specific to the course can be found inside the Moodle platform › blended.uniurb.it

Teaching

The lessons will be organized both in traditional way and in a cooperative one. We will analyze the texts of Piaget, Vygotskij, Froebel, Kergomard, Montessori, Agazzi, Ciari, Frabboni, as well as extracts of essays of a philosophical, psychological and pedagogical nature that analyze their work. Presentations of texts and explanatory images of the topics covered will be used and archival films will be shown.

Innovative teaching methods

Some topics of the course will be treated following the practice of the "flipped lesson".

Course books

1) Piaget, J. e Inhelder, B. (2001) La psicologia del bambino. Einaudi, Torino [ed. orig. (1966) La psychologie de l'enfant, Presse Universitaires de France, Paris]

2) Frabboni, F. (1976) La scuola dell'infanzia: una nuova frontiera dell'educazione, Firenze: La Nuova Italia (solo il capitolo II della parte I "L'eredità dei modelli pedagogici tradizionali" e  il capitolo II della parte III "I contenuti e l'assetto metodologico-didattico"

3) one of the following:

- Bondioli, A. e Savio, D. (2018) Educare l'infanzia. Temi chiave per i servizi 0-6. Carocci, Roma

- Bondioli, A. e Mantovani S. (2003) Manuale critico dell'asilo nido. FrancoAngeli, Milano

- Lupi, A. (2018) Il nido con il metodo Montessori. Erickson, Trento

Assessment

The oral examination will be evaluated according to the following criteria:

relevance, effectiveness and degree of articulation of answers in relation to the program content
adequacy of the disciplinary language used
ability to apply the knowledge acquired with reference to different educational and professional contexts
ability to critically discuss the topics covered
ability to interpret situations from a pedagogical perspective
The final evaluation is expressed in thirtieths. 

Disability and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students who have registered their disability certification or SLD certification with the Inclusion and Right to Study Office can request to use conceptual maps (for keywords) during exams.

To this end, it is necessary to send the maps, two weeks before the exam date, to the course instructor, who will verify their compliance with the university guidelines and may request modifications.