Montessori, eugenics and fascist education

Abstract

Sabine Seichter has recently claimed that Montessori’s pedagogy is racist, eugenic, and coherent with Fascism’s educational policy. The contribution criticizes this interpretation, showing how Maria Montessori’s thought cannot be understood without considering her entire work and outside her context. Authors adopt the theoretical categories provided by the culture and science of their time, including its prejudices. An authentic pedagogical view – like that of Maria Montessori – is needed to avoid bending such categories to the purposes of ideological understandings of childhood and education.