Educational and teaching models and the construction of the female teaching profession. The case of the Female Normal School of Catania (1861-1914)

Abstract

In post-unification Italy, the normal schools were crucial for shaping the teaching staff needed for mass schooling and for disseminating the ethical and civic values of the new Kingdom. Although the curriculum for female normal schools was differentiated from the male one, reinforcing gender stereotypes, these represented an unprecedented opportunity for women to receive an education and achieve social mobility, paving the way for a new professional identity. This study investigates the contribution of the Catania’s Normal School for women to the education of teachers between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Based on an analysis of previously unexamined archival sources, the study highlights the critical issues of the teaching profession, but also the commitment of the teachers to introduce innovative teaching practices in the primary schools, in line with European pedagogical positivism.