Session Information
17 SES 07, Education Beyond National Borders
Research Workshop
Contribution
The nation-state paradigm has been, and continues to be, a privileged dimension in history-writing. Considering the development of modern school systems in several European countries since the second half of the 19th c., the role of the school has been often related to the spread of nationalist ideologies and placed at the center of a long-standing debate about the nationalization of the masses.
This Research Workshop weaves together the contributions of young researchers in the earlier stage of their academic career. The papers aim to reconsider education policies from inside and from outside the nation-state paradigm, embracing a vast range of sources in two different contexts: the Soviet Union and Italy during the second half of the 20th century.
1. The Portrayal of Foreigners in Soviet Films, School Textbooks and School Culture Artifacts (1945 – 1989)
Dr Ksenia Nazaryeva’s paper examines a rich collection of three types of sources: films, textbooks and school artifacts. These sources have been often overlooked by the Russian historiography until today. They got a wide spread during the Soviet period, preserved national features and reflected the multiethnic character of the state.
The paper will concentrate on Soviet films for and about children and school artifacts and the image of the foreigners, from the end of the Second World War to the final years of the Soviet Union. Considering the uniqueness of the Soviet school system and its functioning as a strong unifying factor within the Soviet republics and the countries of the Eastern Bloc, the research takes into consideration four stages (1950s, 1960s, 1970s and 1980s), which reflect the development of the wider socio-economic and political situation. The paper will also analyse mentioned sources in order to understand what myths and stories about the foreigners they create and what ideas of schooling and childhood in different countries they promote. For example, some episodes of the Soviet newsreel Erlash (1975-1989) demonstrating the stereotype of an Italian school will be examined.
2. The Portrayal of Foreigners in La lunga calza verde (1961) and the celebration of the 100th Anniversary of Italian Unification
La lunga calza verde is an animated film produced by the Italian studio Gamma in 1961, to celebrate the anniversary of the Unification of Italy; it was also the award winner movie for youth of the year.
The events of the plot are mostly related with two main themes: in its first part, the film celebrates the cultural and natural beauty, showing turists from all over the world coming to Italy; in its second part, it deals with the Italian Risorgimento and with the struggles for the independence of Italian people against foreign enemies.
This movie represents an interesting case-study to analyse the ambigous representation of the foreigners during the celebration of the 100th anniversary of unification via educational media.
The reseach aims also to show the attempt of rethinking the category of foreigners and enemies in a new perspective of national-identity building in the Italy of the 1960’s.
Method
Expected Outcomes
References
DEAL, T.E. (1985). The Symbolism of Effective Schools. The Elementary School Journal, 85 (5), 601-620. GROSVENOR I., & BURKE C. (2008). School: Iconic Architecture. London: Reaktion. GROSVENOR, I. (2008). From the ‘eye of history’ to ‘a second gaze’: the visual archive and the marginalised in history of education. London: Routledge KOH, W.L., & Steers, R.M., & Terborg, J.R. (1995). The effects of transformational leadership to teachers attitudes and student performance in Singapore. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 16, 319-333. MASLOWSKI, R. (2001). School culture and school performance: An explorative study into the organizational culture of secondary schools and their effects. Twente: Twente University Press. MATASCI, D., « Le systèm scolaire française et ses miroirs », Histoire de l’éducation 2010/1 (n° 125) MAY, J. (2010) A field of desire: visions of education in selected Australian silent films. Paedagogica Historica, 46, 623-637. MEYER J. W., RAMIREZ O. F., SOYSAL N. Y., « World Expansion of Mass Education, 1870-1980 », Sociology of Education, N. 65, Vol. 2, 1992, pp. 128-149. STOLL, L. (2002). School culture. Research Information for Teachers, 3, pp 9-14. WEAKLAND, J.H. (1995) Feature Films as Cultural Documents. Principles of visual anthropology. Berlin; New York; Mouton de Gruyter.
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