Wolfgang Sahlfeld

Wolfgang Sahlfeld is a Professor in History of Didactics and Director of the Research Laboratory for History of Education, Documentation, Preservation and Digitization (RDCD) at the Department of Education and Learning (DFA/ASP) of SUPSI. He holds a PhD in Italian Literature from the University of Neuchâtel (1999) and a Master’s in Italian Language Teaching from the University of Rome Tor Vergata (2007). His research focuses on historical pedagogy, didactics of literary texts, and the integration of historical educational resources into modern teaching. He leads projects on digitizing archival educational materials and enhancing the metasite www.storiadelleducazione.ch.

His educational background includes studies in Switzerland and Italy, with a career shift from literary criticism to educational history. He has contributed to the creation of the Centro Scuola e Società (now BESS) and oversees the RDCD lab, which manages digitization projects and historical educational archives. His work emphasizes using historical sources to inform contemporary educational practices, particularly in multilingual and intercultural contexts.

Recent research includes studies on pandemic-era education, tracing historical responses to crises like the Spanish flu and World War II. He collaborates internationally on projects such as the exploration of Italian-language archives at the Pestalozzianum Foundation. His publications span educational history, curriculum design, and the role of historical pedagogical materials in teacher training.