In 1909, after the establishment of the first Children’s House and the publication of Il Metodo della pedagogia scientifica applicato all’educazione infantile nelle case dei Bambini - defined as the “birth certificate” of the Method - Maria Montessori laid the foundations of her psycho-pedagogical proposal, which from its very beginnings proved to be an emancipatory instrument for the children and the society they are members of.
“In the Montessori doctrine, above all its pedagogical requirements, there is a highly humanitarian and Christian social content” (Marcucci, “Una verità sul metodo Montessori”, 7). Maria Montessori did not casually formulate the definition of the Children’s House as “an element of direct civilization for the people” (Montessori, Il metodo della pedagogia scientifica, 135). As a matter of fact, the institution - a pioneer in solving social and pedagogical problems – had a dual nature that made it a milestone in the educational landscape: its social nature, embodied by its “home school” characteristic, and its pedagogical nature, focused on methodological aspects. The first Children's House, an integral part of the civilization project in Rome’s San Lorenzo district, played a fundamental role in the transformation of the most disadvantaged and troubled family environments. Introduced into the daily lives of families, the school took on a character of collective ownership and responsibility, with parents being called upon to fulfil unavoidable obligations, to reflect on a new way of thinking childhood and education. The crucial element of the presence of the teacher, who lived and operated in the same building, contributed to making the school a fundamental reference point for families' lives. This article aims to explore the crucial role of the Children’s House in activating emancipatory processes and directing civilization in the different social and cultural contexts in which they were operative. To support the argumentation, we will display a historical mapping of the Montessori method schools (nurseries, Children’s House, primary or secondary schools), still existing or past, that have been established from 1907 to the present day in Italy. The map is the result of in-depth archival research made to collect the data necessary to reconstruct the history (foundation, years of operation, closure, directors/directors, teachers, children accommodated) of these institutions. This tool - created to visualise the dissemination and reception of Montessori's pedagogy in Italy - is one of the results of the Prin “Maria Montessori from the past to the present. Reception and implementation of her educational method in Italy on the 150th anniversary of her birth”. This contribution aims to provide a representation of how the presence of Montessori institutions has influenced the society of an area in specific historical periods. Underlining the importance of Montessori thought in the history of education and pedagogy in Italy, the data collected in the map cross-referenced with the histories of the contexts will allow us to draw conclusions on the role played by these institutions in the development of individual and collective emancipatory processes, together with the construction of more equal, democratic, and inclusive social contexts.

The major contribution of this report is about the reconstruction of “colonisation” policies that were put in place during the post-unification of Southern Italy, to support the social and economic by utilizing, in particular, the channel of a public primary school. Notably, we intend to highlight the critical aspects of the application of a new educational system (Casati Law 1859), which extended compulsory schooling to all of Italy without distinction in any particular territory. Basilicata Province’s reality, similar to many other parts of Southern Italy, brings along its own history, between the lights and shadows of the school policy linking to the birth of the new Kingdom, while the compulsory nature of education is making its way and renewed ideas of economic development, of work and education. In a letter sent to Cavour in 1860, Luigi Carlo Farini described the underdevelopment of Basilicata, which was similar to Africa rather than an evolved society. Likewise, in the famous report Sulle condizioni della pubblica istruzione nel regno d’Italia by Carlo Matteucci, it was highlighted how evident the fracture and linguistic diversity appeared after the Unification of Italy and not only in Basilicata. Moreover, Alfredo Zazo in his work L’istruzione pubblica e privata nel Napoletano (1767-1860) defined, without certain terms, the Lucan school network as the most miserable one in the Kingdom. In the light of the documents kept in the State Archives of Potenza (Prefecture Fund - Administrative Acts) it is possible to re-read the history of the elementary school in Basilicata in the first fifty years of the Italian Kingdom (1861-1911) in an attempt to highlight lights and shadows, prevarications and exclusion in the difficult implementation of the Casati Law.

The comic is undoubtedly an artifact of popular education that has contributed to propagating stereotypes of race and gender. In the Spanish context, marked by colonial history, the analysis of these aesthetic-literary representations is especially relevant. Therefore, this communication intends to address the Capitán Trueno comic. We are talking about a series of adventure comics aimed at children and young people, created during the Franco dictatorship, whose first publication was released on the market in 1956 by Víctor Mora Pujadas and the artist Miguel Ambrosio Zaragoza (Ambrós). The reception of this comic is unquestionable, not only because in the first period of its publication (1956-1968), more than three hundred thousand were sold copies for each issue, if not because throughout the subsequent years (1969-2010) they were republishing the editions this time in color until in 2010 Ediciones B decided to start a new era of the series with continuity over time. Outside of Spain, El Capitán Trueno spread in various countries in Latin America and Europe, and was published in Portugal, France, Germany, Italy, Greece and Holland. For all that has been said, a preliminary study is addressed here of the first issues from the methodological perspective of pedagogical landscapes; an analysis spatial, aesthetic and discursive that, from situated knowledge, accounts about how these stories have helped shape our collective configuration of otherness and colonial history of Spain.

El cómic, es sin duda un artefacto de educación popular que ha contribuido a propagar estereotipos de raza y de género. En el contexto español, marcado por la historia colonial, el análisis de estas representaciones estético-literarias es especialmente relevante. Por ello dicha comunicación pretende abordar el cómic del Capitán Trueno. Hablamos de una serie de historietas de aventuras destinadas al público infantil y juvenil, creada durante la dictadura franquista, cuyo primer número salió al mercado en 1956 a cargo del guionista Víctor Mora Pujadas y el dibujante Miguel Ambrosio Zaragoza (Ambrós). Es incuestionable la recepción de este cómic, no sólo porque en el primer periodo de su publicación (1956-1968) se llegaron a vender más de trescientos mil ejemplares por cada número, si no porque a lo largo de los años posteriores (1969-2010) se fueron reeditando las ediciones esta vez a color hasta que en 2010 Ediciones B se propuso iniciar una nueva época de la serie con continuidad en el tiempo. Fuera de España, el Capitán Trueno se difundió en diversos países de Hispanoamérica y de Europa, llegando a ser publicado en Portugal, Francia, Alemania, Italia, Grecia y Holanda. Por todo lo dicho, se aborda aquí un estudio preliminar de los primeros números des de la perspectiva metodológica de los paisajes pedagógicos; un análisis espacial, estético y discursivo que, des del conocimiento situado, de cuentas sobre cómo estas historias han contribuido a moldear nuestra comprensión colectiva de la otredad y de la historia colonial de España.