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Starting in the early 1900s, male and female elementary schoolteachers in Italy gained increasing awareness of the role of social workers in the fight against illiteracy and in creating civic consciousness based on widespread, qualified education. In 1900, the Unione Magistrale (the Teachers Association) was founded; in 1919, the Sindacato Magistrale (the Italian Teachers Union, a member of the General Confederation of Labor) was created.
Inevitably, some of these teachers, firmly convinced of their duty, opposed fascism which, from the moment it originated, aimed at creating obedient boys who were loyal to fascist doctrine and trained in warfare, and girls ready to become the mothers and wives of soldiers. These teachers resisted in the most diverse ways. Some were forced to abandon teaching, a number of them were killed by fascist violence, but others were able to navigate the restrictions imposed on them by the regime.
In Teaching Freedom, the author reconstructs twelve biographies of these teachers, based on unpublished material and archive documents, in a form of research suspended between history and pedagogy. The chronological order of the stories retraces the way fascism progressively seized power, suffocating all forms of freedom of expression. Moreover, the study of newly-found documents and various testimonies show the teachers' ceaseless invention of alternative teaching strategies.
List of contents
Chapter 1: The Assassination of Carlo Cammeo
Chapter 2: The Sacrifice of Franz Innerhofer
Chapter 3: Anselmo Cessi: A Catholic Patriot Killed by the Fascists
Chapter 4: The Lofty Socialist Integrity of Alda Costa
Chapter 5: Mariangela Maccioni: The Anti-Fascist Teacher from Nuoro
Chapter 6: Abigaille Zanetta: A Fighter
Chapter 7: Fabio Maf¿: The Teacher of Teachers
Chapter 8: Carlo Fontana: From Councilor to Mayor of Magenta
Chapter 9: Aurelio Castoldi: From the Typographers Union to the Publishing House Labor
Chapter 10: Giuseppe Latronico: Director of Studies and Gobetti's Friend
Chapter 11: Anna Botto and the Three Rosaries: From Vigevano to Ravensbrück
Chapter 12: Salvatore Principato: Setting an Example as a Form of Civic Education
About the author
By Massimo Castoldi - Translated by Gail McDowell
