Masoni, Giorgia CarmenGiorgia CarmenMasoniRuoss, ThomasThomasRuossTinembart, SylvianeSylvianeTinembart2026-08-272026-08-272026-06-19https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12162/15902The introduction of school radio in the early 20th century represents a pivotal moment in the reconfiguration of educational forms and infrastructures (Annegarn-Gläß, 2016; Lefebvre, 2013). Far beyond a simple pedagogical supplement, radio opened possibilities for distance learning in geographically isolated regions (Ceschi, 1995). Our study examines how school radio contributed to reshaping the school form. It askes, whether school radio enabled another timing in the dissemination or circulation of educational topics and which actors were given the opportunity to define the relevance of school subjects as a result. Emerging, for the Swiss case, in the 1930s, school radio aimed not only to support classroom instruction but also to construct a space that could foster a new sense of civic community. This is accompanied by both unifying and disruptive tendencies. Radio’s capacity to reach pupils simultaneously across regions endowed it with a unifying, nation-building potential. At the same time, fears of central control over teaching content in a federal system grew. School radio indeed disrupted established temporalities of educational practices. Unlike textbooks or official programs, radio lessons could react rapidly to current events, thereby integrating contemporary social issues into school activities and encouraging pedagogical innovation (Solcà, 2015). At the same time, however, it disrupted curriculum planning and lesson design. This paper analyses how school radio contributed to transforming educational governance and infrastructures (1930-1970). By doing so, the study interrogates the establishment of new educational media may, in specific historical contexts, redefine the spatial and temporal boundaries of schooling. To investigate these questions, the research adopts a transregional perspective for the analysis of school radio’s impact on the school form (Hofstetter & Schneuwly, 2018). This study will focus on the (multilingual) Swiss case and will examines pedagogical and specialized press, as well as the content of radio lessons themselves. The results are examined in the context of international developments and the question of how international actors positioned themselves within broader debates on the pedagogical potential of this new medium. This analysis and contextualization allow insights into the question, how producers of educational broadcasts (radio professionals, teachers and pedagogical authorities) selectively engaged with contemporary topics with emerging social concerns. To answer our question, this paper analyzes a diverse corpus of published and unpublished sources, including activity reports, radio bulletins, broadcast programs, educational broadcasts, teacher’s magazines, school curricula, and textbooks within the different language regions in Switzerland. The analysis will be complemented by an outlook to international developments, considering published and unpublished sources such as international reports on school radio. This enables us to relate our comparative analysis of school radio within multilingual Switzerland. The objective of this contribution is thus to understand how school radio, as an educational innovation (Tricot, 2017), reconfigured the school form and enabled new forms of civic and social learning. More broadly, the case offers insights into how media technologies can act as catalysts for institutional transformation and pedagogical renewal in contexts marked by a rapid societal change. Bibliography Annegarn-Gläß, M. (2016). Das Für und Wider neuer Bildungsmedien: Der Schulfunk in der Zwischenkriegszeit. Rundfunk und Geschichte, 42(3–4), 24–35. Ceschi, R. (1995). La radio ai montanari. Archivio storico ticinese, 117, 25‑34. Hofstetter, R., & Schneuwly, B. (2018). Métamorphoses et contradictions de la forme école au prisme de la démocratie. In J. Saugy (Ed.), Variation autour de la « forme scolaire » : mélanges offerts à André D. Robert (pp. 27-49). Presses universitaires de Nancy. Lefebvre, T. (2013). À la recherche de la radio scolaire. Une patrimonialisation en cours. Sociétés & Représentations, 35, 109 116. Solcà, N. (2015). Suoni e immagini per l’insegnamento : La radiotelescuola nella Svizzera italiana. In N. Valsangiacomo & M. Marcacci (Ed.), Per tutti e per ciascuno. La scuola pubblica nel Cantone Ticino dall’Ottocento ai giorni nostri (p. 267 285). Dadò. Tricot, A. (2017) L’innovation pédagogique. Retz. Key words School radio, educational innovation, school form, educational practices, societal change.enhistoire de l'éducationradio scolaireforme écoleType de référence::Communications::Communication scientifique non publiée::Communication orale