Factory culture and education culture
The Montessori school experience at Falck
It’s called corporate welfare today. A company focusing on its people. Caring for the well-being of those who work in the factory and offices. While this is certainly not common to all companies, it is widespread enough to find examples of it in a number of significant cases. One such case is that of the Falck steelworks and ironworks in Sesto San Giovanni, Lombardy, which promoted the application of Montessori pedagogy in schools for the children of its employees between 1952 and 1993.
Irene Pozzi (of the University of Bologna) writes about this experience in her article, ‘L’applicazione della pedagogia montessoriana nelle scuole delle Acciaierie e Ferriere Lombarde Falck’ (The application of Montessori pedagogy in the schools of the Lombard Falck steelworks and ironworks) (1952–1993), which was recently published in Nuova Secondaria.
Based on unpublished company sources (publications and archive documents), the article describes the educational initiatives implemented at Falck. These initiatives were made possible thanks to the collaboration between Maly Falck (wife of the company chairman at the time, Giovanni Falck) and Giuliana Sorge, a renowned disciple of Maria Montessori. On the one hand, the Falck Montessori schools were an extremely significant educational experiment for the company, and on the other, they were an important centre for Montessori education in the post-war period.
Therefore, the research has the characteristics of both pedagogical analysis and historical and corporate culture analysis. Irene Pozzi begins her investigation by focusing on the initiative’s educational approach and historical origins. She then moves on to its growth and consolidation in the 1960s, which culminated in a crisis in the steel industry and the closure of schools due to a decline in the school population and the steel crisis.
IIrene Pozzi’s narrative – because it is indeed a narrative, given the language used – guides the reader through an important experience that is an expression of a corporate culture whose memory must not be lost.
Irene Pozzi
Nuova Secondaria – No. 2, October 2025 – year XLIII
The Montessori school experience at Falck
It’s called corporate welfare today. A company focusing on its people. Caring for the well-being of those who work in the factory and offices. While this is certainly not common to all companies, it is widespread enough to find examples of it in a number of significant cases. One such case is that of the Falck steelworks and ironworks in Sesto San Giovanni, Lombardy, which promoted the application of Montessori pedagogy in schools for the children of its employees between 1952 and 1993.
Irene Pozzi (of the University of Bologna) writes about this experience in her article, ‘L’applicazione della pedagogia montessoriana nelle scuole delle Acciaierie e Ferriere Lombarde Falck’ (The application of Montessori pedagogy in the schools of the Lombard Falck steelworks and ironworks) (1952–1993), which was recently published in Nuova Secondaria.
Based on unpublished company sources (publications and archive documents), the article describes the educational initiatives implemented at Falck. These initiatives were made possible thanks to the collaboration between Maly Falck (wife of the company chairman at the time, Giovanni Falck) and Giuliana Sorge, a renowned disciple of Maria Montessori. On the one hand, the Falck Montessori schools were an extremely significant educational experiment for the company, and on the other, they were an important centre for Montessori education in the post-war period.
Therefore, the research has the characteristics of both pedagogical analysis and historical and corporate culture analysis. Irene Pozzi begins her investigation by focusing on the initiative’s educational approach and historical origins. She then moves on to its growth and consolidation in the 1960s, which culminated in a crisis in the steel industry and the closure of schools due to a decline in the school population and the steel crisis.
IIrene Pozzi’s narrative – because it is indeed a narrative, given the language used – guides the reader through an important experience that is an expression of a corporate culture whose memory must not be lost.
Irene Pozzi
Nuova Secondaria – No. 2, October 2025 – year XLIII