Paolo Alfieri

The Memory of an Ideal School: The Work of Don Lorenzo Milani as Represented by Cinema and Television (1963–2012)

The image of school transmitted by cinema and television brings to light practices, methods, values, norms and routines which may be either in keeping with, or alternative to, the immaterial historical-educational heritage constructed over time by a given community and held in its collective memory of school. An image of school which is undoubtedly distant from the average experience of Italians and their shared imaginary of schooling, is that portrayed in the films and documentaries that have focused on the educational works of Father Lorenzo Milani (Florence, 1923–1967), the well-known Tuscan priest, who, in the period after the second world war, created innovative schooling experiences for the lower classes, inspired by an informal approach of teaching. The cinema and TV reconstructions analysed in this paper, remained true to historical fact in narrating the absolute originality and uniqueness of don Milani’s school. At the same time, however, by describing Don Milani’s educational model, these films and documentaries have supplied the collective memory of Italians with an ideal vision of schooling that is rich with novel pedagogical perspectives.