The janitor on screen. A proposed study of the school imaginary in twentieth-century Italy

Among the various figures in the world of school, one that educational historiography has undoubtedly overlooked is that of the janitor (nowadays referred to as the school assistant), who has played (and continues to play) no small part in facilitating students’ development. This gap in the literature is explained by the sources used in educational research, even since the advent of studies on school culture. The two main lines of inquiry into the education systems of the past – analysis of legislative requirements and analysis of the documentation of school life – fail to provide sufficient insight into the role that the janitor has played in the history of Italian schools. In contrast, the figure and educational function of the janitor is better defined in the shared imaginary, which is also shaped by cinema and television. Both the big and the small screen play an extremely influential role in the process of building the school memory of a people or a community. In this reservoir of memories developed through filmic productions, the image of the janitor is laden with symbolic meanings that influence not only our collective perceptions of this figure but also the very definition of his/her professional role, within the more general dynamics, real or imagined, of the school.