A school for independence and responsibility

The Jardim Infantil Pestalozzi

Abstract

The Jardim Infantil Pestalozzi (1955-…) is a private kindergarten institution, in Lisbon. This paper shares the results of the investigation on this school within the INOVAR project – Itineraries of pedagogical innovation: reference schools and experiences in Portugal in the twentieth century, funded by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology, since May 2016. This project aims to identify and to characterize a large group of innovative, alternative schools founded in Portugal during the 20th century. The analysis of different practices, pedagogical principles, methodological issues seen as representative and alternative ways of schooling -at that time as well as today, are also the goals of this project. 
Different sources were used: publications and materials generated by the school, the huge amount of documents kept in the archive (activity plans, reports, letters, meeting records, school newspapers, photography and audiovisual documents…) and oral testimonies.