«A qual fine vero e proprio debba rispondere la ginnastica nelle scuole». Emilio Baumann e la manualistica ad uso dei maestri elementari all’indomani della legge De Sanctis

The analysis of syllabuses to be used by primary school teachers has allowed\r\na survey concerning the beginning of the process about how physical education, which\r\nbecame compulsory subject in Italian schools due to a Law passed in 1878, has been\r\nshaped as a real school subject. Such a new kind of sources has revealed the outstanding\r\ncontribution given by Emilio Baumann to the building of an educational school background\r\nof physical education. The originality of the theoretical suggestions he made out in Bologna\r\nbetween 1870s and 1880s joining his experience as a teacher with his studies as a doctor,\r\ndid not fade out after being charged director of «Regia Scuola Normale di Ginnastica»\r\n[Royal School of Gymnastics] in Rome: on the contrary Baumann’s observations introduced\r\nin teachers’ books, offered physical education new opportunities to reinforce its own\r\nepistemological roots founded on pedagogical and scientific knowledge and to point out his\r\nown methodology with more coherent accuracy.