Aldo Visalberghi and the italian School System in the Post-War Period

The contribution aims to propose a reflection on the italian pedagogist and academic Aldo Visalberghi (1919-2007) who, influenced by the pedagogical theories of John Dewey (1859-1952), has critically analyzed the italian school of the immediate post-war period, which he himself called extremely authoritarian and, for this reason, demanding to live a change that transformed and improved the quality of teaching and learning of young italians. Through a critical reading of some bibliographical sources such as Scuola aperta published in 1960 and Insegnare ed apprendere. Un approccio evolutivo of 1988, it will be highlighted how Visalberghi offered to educators and teachers of his time suggestions to revolutionize the italian school system, focusing on issues still of pedagogical importance such as the educational relationship between teacher and pupil, the use in the classroom of new technologies and the carrying out of laboratory activities.