The aim of this paper is to present some insights, both theoretical and operative, about the use of public history for training in the educational professions (initial or in-service training). Although there are not many examples, even in the long tradition in the United States, this is an area of great interest because it highlights the usefulness and importance of historical knowledge for improving awareness of professional roles. Through a series of experiences, I have been able to verify the actual development of transformative learning that makes education professionals able to reorganise their work priorities and better understand the challenges and difficulties of the present. Public history has thus been an part of master's courses promoted by the Department of Education, Languages, Interculture, Literature and Psychology (University of Florence): Educational Management of Infants' Centres 0-6 years (2016 to present); Methodologies of autobiographical research, storytelling and adult education: for the educational, cultural and care professions (2021-2022); Organisation and Management of Educational Institutions in multicultural contexts (2021-2022). In these learning experiences, specific publics were engaged: school heads, teachers, museum workers, librarians, and coordinators of educational services. Historical knowledge was used as a powerful tool for reflexivity, carefully matching historical sources of macro history and micro history (up to personal history). Thanks to this intense dialectic between past and present, the hidden (and historical) roots of professional behaviour became evident and many observations, ideas and proposals for improving educational roles were born.

The traditional definition of Public History as an endeavour conducted outside the confines of academia is currently being surpassed by an alternative conceptualization that views it as a distinct approach to historical inquiry. Many scholars are actively engaged in the practice of Public History, often in collaboration with groups or communities associated with academic institutions; for this reason, the former formulation may prove inadequate. Rather than defining the setting in which it is practiced, Public History defines the methodology of historical research. We, like many other practitioners of Public History, comprehend it as a proactive undertaking carried out in cooperation with audiences. Its purpose is to connect communities with their past. This serves as a foundation for comprehending their present circumstances and formulating future actions. It represents applied history, oriented towards societal needs and realities, thereby functioning as a problem-solving practice aimed at providing answers and solutions. Furthermore, the practice of Public History frequently necessitates collaboration with various groups or institutions, whether public or private. Identifying groups, communities, or institutions for collaboration may appear straightforward, yet the initial willingness to establish connections and collaborate is often impeded or even thwarted by numerous factors. In this article, we aim to recount three distinct experiences – three attempts to engage in dialogue with different audiences and collaboratively reconstruct the past, thus democratizing history. The first endeavour involved an LGTBI rights association and the authors of this article. As will be demonstrated, it was a brief initiatory experience that nonetheless provided valuable lessons in managing expectations and understanding the motivations that mobilize or demobilize groups, such as the willingness of volunteers to take on additional tasks. In the second attempt, we sought to capitalize on the social demand generated by the centenary of the Escuela del Mar, a school in Barcelona founded in 1921 on the beach sands, employing a truly innovative methodology. Unfortunately, despite our willingness to collaborate, geographical distance emerged as a significant obstacle. Communication technologies proved insufficient to replace personal contact, hindering the project's execution. The third experience is underway at the Universitat Oberta per a Majors (UOM) with our senior students. As this experience is ongoing, conclusions have not yet been reached. However, we will present them at the ISCHE conference, as the course will have concluded by then. The objective of this practice is to create an audio archive encompassing topics of interest to senior citizens pertaining to their educational history. This audio archive will serve as a foundation for deciphering the key elements of contemporary education. These three experiences will serve as a foundation for us to reflect upon the constraints, challenges, and achievements inherent in the realm of Public History.This research has been carried out within the framework of the project [PID2020-113677GB-I00, funded by MCIN/AEI/ 10.13039/501100011033].

History of school generally focuses on the reconstruction of teaching practices and educational activities of the past, in short on what pupils were required to do in the classroom. It focused less on what they were forbidden to do and what in spite of all they continued to do, enacting more or less explicit forms of resistance to adults’ attempts at forced enculturation. Necessity sharpens the wits and it has always been the need to prove to adults that they did not do nothing in school that has always forced students to sharpen their wits in order to obtain fulfilling results even without applying themselves to study, thanks to some little subterfuge. If, on the morning of the dreaded test, one was unable to stay at home with the symptoms of “mal di scuola” (school sickness), one had no choice but to play hooky together with other schoolchildren fleeing from their responsibilities, or to adopt finest plagiarizing techniques to avoid a bad grade. There were many who – after repeating to themselves the Latin saying “Oportet studuisse, non studere” (One should have studied at the time, not now) – tried their luck, armed with cheat sheets, paper scrolls and “cartridge belt” or tattooing useful formulas on various parts of the body. All at the risk, moreover, that such hasty effort would not serve to make up for the gaps accumulated in weeks of complete idleness, forcing them to further school misdemeanours in order to avoid incurring the deadly wrath of their parents. These school deceptions have been passed down from generation to generation to reach us, although traditional methods have remained more in student slang than in everyday school practice, replaced by the hi-tech ones introduced by new technologies, 100% guaranteed. Continuing the research conducted for the seminar “School Deceptions: a Semi-Serious History of the Funambulistic Art of Plagiarizing in the Classroom in the Last Century”, which took place at the School Museum of the University of Macerata on 3 May 2016, we will attempt to reconstruct a history of school deceptions in collaboration with university students and their social network. By combining traditional sources, images, first and second-hand accounts and social media surveys, we will attempt to reconstruct together from below a history long hidden due to the confidentiality if not the clandestinity in which these “innocent school sins” were practised.

The collaborative experience presented in this paper is based on the public and digital use of historical-educational heritage. More specifically, it concerns a project carried out at the Don Bosco Institute of Tournai (Belgium), where researchers from the University of the Balearic Islands, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, and the Association of Former Students of the Institute (Association Royale des Anciens Élèves) collaborated. The origin of the experience dates back to the request of former students for researchers to collaborate in the dissemination and conservation of the heritage of their private archive, which is informal in nature and does not meet the conservation standards of professional archives. Due to this situation, there was a risk that over time the materials would suffer significant deterioration. Consequently, it was agreed to create a website with the aim of promoting the history and historical-educational heritage of the center. The section that holds the greatest relevance and gives meaning to the website is the "Virtual Museum Francis Pontégnie". This digital space is divided into four rooms, with the first one, dedicated to written documents, having been developed over the past year and is already open to be visited. Currently, this room exhibits reproductions of the school magazine "Echos", arranged chronologically to facilitate the appreciation of the different phases of development of this publication. On the other hand, the user interface shows that, for the time being, following the plan of gradual opening, the other rooms remain closed. At the end of the year 2024, the inauguration of the room dedicated to photographs will take place, with a focus on visually capturing the most emblematic moments in the history of the institute. This schedule continues in 2025 with the opening of the room for objects, intended to exhibit school utensils and artifacts, providing a tangible and material dimension to the museum experience. Finally, in 2026, the room for voices will be inaugurated, representing the culmination of this initiative. In this space, visitors will have the opportunity to immerse themselves in the memories of various oral testimonies, providing authenticity and representation to those who have witnessed the evolution of the institution. The opening of each of these rooms will contribute to consolidating the virtual museum as an immersive heritage compendium, meticulously intertwined with the rich history of the institution, gradually and detailedly amalgamating the various manifestations that have characterized the past of the Institute. This research has been carried out within the framework of the project [PID2020-113677GB-I00, funded by MCIN/AEI/ 10.13039/501100011033].