La leçon de choses: évolution et déclinaison d’une méthode didactique dans la pédagogie mondiale

The object lesson is a particular teaching method that was widespread in Europe and the westernised world during the 19th century, which was variously adapted according to national contexts under the name of 'Anschauungsunterricht', 'leçon de choses', 'lezione di cose', and 'lección de cosas'. Based on the intuitive (sometimes known as natural) method, it established itself as a direct product of Pestalozzi’s pedagogy, although its genealogy has been reconstructed differently from country to country. This makes it an interesting case of translation and transformation in education or, perhaps, simply an example of maquillage motivated by revanchism. The aim, in general, is to introduce abstract ideas to infant and primary school pupils through the observation of concrete objects. The leading theorists (the early followers of Pestalozzi in Germany and England, the educationalist Marie Pape-Carpentier in France, the Italian and Spanish positivists, etc.), gave it, in most cases, the form of a maternal conversation, where adults and children prompt each other with questions and answers. Many school programmes have given it a place in the curriculum, others have maintained it in freer and more spontaneous forms. This paper offers, on the basis of the most recent literature, an analysis of the different national traditions, using the main pedagogical dictionaries published in Europe in the second half of the 19th century.