“Bisogna lavorare a riaffiatare la scuola con la città”. Rileggendo il primo numero della rivista “Scuola e Città”

The paper develops a reflection on the first issue of “Scuola e città” published in March 1950. The journal was founded by Ernesto Codignola in continuity with the opening of the experimental Florentine school Scuola-città Pestalozzi. The founder, however, emphasized from the first lines of his editorial that the journal is not the internal organ of Scuola-città Pestalozzi, but a free access journal opened to a broad debate on educational, social, and political issues. The reflections on this first issue read back and interpret some significant passages from the articles included therein, which address issues related to schools, but also to the world of work and the Italian bureaucratic system. Without ever neglecting the educational and interdisciplinary approach to these socially relevant issues. The paper begins with a historical and theoretical overview of the journal’s birth, then develops a critical reflection on the three pillars that best represent the mandate of “Scuola e città”: 1) a Methodological innovation in research and writing; 2) an interdisciplinary and comparative approach; 3) a tool for critical reflection with the aim to develop a new pedagogical, laic, and democratic stance.