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Teaching project: "Classics of Pedagogy in Dialogue: Reading, Discussion and Oral Presentation in Small Groups"
Teaching project: "Classics of Pedagogy in Dialogue: Reading, Discussion and Oral Presentation in Small Groups"
Course: History of Pedagogy (Prof. Tiziana Pironi), Single-Cycle Master's Degree in Primary Education Sciences, academic year 2026/2027
Aims
To give students the opportunity to examine critically, through sustained collective work over the length of the course, one of the classic pedagogical texts included in the syllabus, developing skills in analysis, comparison and oral argumentation.
Stages of the work
1) Forming the groups: Students organise themselves autonomously into working groups.
2) Choosing the text: Each group chooses the text it will work on from among the "classics" listed in the course syllabus: E. Key, Il secolo del bambino (1900), edited by Tiziana Pironi and Luisa Ceccarelli, Edizioni Junior, 2019; J. J. Rousseau, L'Emilio (any edition); M. Montessori, Il metodo della pedagogia scientifica, or L'autoeducazione, or La scoperta del bambino (any edition); J. Dewey, Scuola e società, or Democrazia ed educazione (any edition); J. Bruner, Verso una teoria dell'istruzione (any edition); C. Freinet, Nascita di una pedagogia popolare (any edition); M. Lodi, Il paese sbagliato (any edition); Don Lorenzo Milani, Lettera a una professoressa (any edition); Enrico Bottero, Célestin Freinet – Storia e attualità di una pedagogia, Junior, 2025.
3) Notifying the group (by 5 November): As soon as it is formed, each group communicates its chosen text and the first and last names of its members to samir.galalmohamed@unibo.it, copying in the lecturer (tiziana.pironi@unibo.it) where there are special needs.
4) Development over the course: Throughout the lessons (in particular during the sessions of 6 and 13 November) the group studies the text in depth, discusses it critically and relates it to the content covered in class.
5) Final presentation: At the end of the course, each group (5-7 members) presents its work orally, with the option of accompanying it with a short slide presentation.
Impact on assessment
The group oral presentation, if delivered, counts as passing one of the four questions of the official written examination (the one on the text of choice), which will therefore not need to be repeated at the exam.
Assessment criteria: ability to analyse the chosen text critically; clarity of delivery and organisation of the discourse; ability to link the text to the general themes of the course; quality and cohesion of the group work.
Published on: September 28 2026
