Armonia come piena realizzazione del bambino: la maestra Sara Cerrini Melauri

Abstract

The article reconstructs the life and pedagogical thought of Sara Cerrini Melauri (1920–), a Tuscan teacher who, inspired by the experience of Maria Maltoni, devoted her life to renewing the Italian rural school system in the postwar period. After obtaining her teaching and orthophrenic qualifications, Cerrini Melauri began her career during the Second World War, developing an educational vision centered on harmony, expressive freedom, and community participation. At the school of Doccia (Pontassieve), she experimented with innovative teaching practices based on cooperation and the use of writing, drawing, and school correspondence as tools for personal and social growth. Though close to the Movement for Educational Cooperation (MCE), she never fully adhered to it, criticizing its rigid application and instead favoring an autonomous and flexible approach attentive to the individual needs and rhythms of children.