Educational tools in history

Within the field of history of education, interest in the educational tools and pedagogy of the past has been growing internationally. This volume represents a response to this historiographical reflection, aiming to provide methodological examples. The essays it contains address a variety of different sources: visual sources, ranging from medieval miniatures to advertisements directed at children and school class photos; media, from films to videogames; architectural sources, such as school buildings; sources for special education, including intelligence tests; tools used in food education; and artifacts employed in teaching and learning. These essays provide a critical assessment of the complexity of educational tools which, despite appearing simple, reveal profound ideological, cultural and socio- economic insights, alongside their pedagogical dimension.

SIMONETTA POLENGHI, the editor of this volume, is a full Professor of History of Education in the Faculty of Educational Sciences at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Milan. Author of more than 150 national and international scientific publications, in 2022 she was responsible for convening the 43rd edition of the International Standing Conference for the History of Education (ISCHE), the world conference on history of education, dedicated to “Histories of Educational Technologies. Cultural and Social Dimensions of Pedagogical Objects”.