Rita Baldi
Department of Psychology, Educational Science and Human Movement, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze Edificio 15, Palermo, 90128, Italy.
e-Mail: rita.baldi01@unipa.it
Education
- Laurea in Scienza dell’Educazione, Corso di Laurea Triennale- Classe L-19 presso l’Università di Palermo, con votazione 110/110 e lode
- Degree in Educational Science, Three-year degree course - Class L-19 at the University of Palermo, with mark 110/110 cum laude
- Laurea Magistrale Biennale in Scienze Pedagogiche Classe LM-85 Presso l’Università di Palermo, con votazione 110/110 e lode
- Biennial Master's Degree in Pedagogical Sciences Class LM-85 at the University of Palermo, with grade 110/110 cum laude
Current Positions
PhD Student in Health Promotion and Cognitive Sciences
PhD project title and a short abstract
PhD project title
Teachers of 'frontiers' and early school leaving in Sicily. A historical-pedagogical investigation into female education from the 19th century to the present.
Abstract
The landscape of female education in Sicily between the 19th and 20th centuries highlights the various efforts dedicated to the education of girls by institutions that had previously been managed solely by religious bodies, as well as the educational and political interest of the post-unification secular state. Female education was aimed at the role that women were expected to assume in society but, above all, at promoting the values that they themselves were to later transmit after learning them.
In this regard, the history of the Domina Institute located in Petralia Sottana is particularly noteworthy. Since 1778, thanks to the priest Ignazio Bellingreri and the work of the Collegio di Maria foundation managed by nuns, young women from less privileged backgrounds were allowed to receive an education that was then reserved for girls. Upon his death, Baron Domina, his heir and after whom the institute was later named, continued the promotion of female education, stipulating in his will that part of his income would finance the needs of the Collegio di Maria. The institution experienced rapid growth, becoming the Educandato of Petralia, which in the 1874-1875 school year saw the establishment of a girls' elementary school up to the fourth grade and in 1877, the inauguration of a women's teacher training school that included a boarding school—one of the first female teacher training schools in Sicily, which later became coeducational in 1911.
The research project aims to conduct a historical-pedagogical investigation into female education, frontier schoolteachers, and school dropout rates in Sicily from the 19th century to the present day, with particular attention to female education, focusing also on girls from lower social classes and less privileged backgrounds.
Supervisor: Prof. Livia Romano
Main research areas of interest
History of women's education, school history, history of rural schools and rural teachers, history of the fight against illiteracy and early school leaving, history
Researcher ID