Fonti visive per la scuola progressista. Analisi quantitativa dei disegni della P.S. 174 diretta da Garibaldi Lapolla (1938-1941)

Abstract

This paper analyzes the educational content offered at Brooklyn’s Public School 174 under the direction of Garibaldi Lapolla from 1935 to 1953. Lapolla was an Italian-American writer known for his novel The Grand Gennaro (1935), yet his work as an educator has been neglected. Few records of his school experience survive, and they are preserved at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. This study presents and examines three issues of «Our Works and Play» (1938-1941), a school magazine edited by students to communicate learning processes and results to parents. Through quantitative analysis, the study attempts to reconstruct P.S. 174’s programs, themes, and teaching approaches. It highlights the role of arts and multicultural education in mid-twentieth-century Brooklyn and offers new perspectives on Lapolla’s pedagogical contribution.