The Instituto-Escuela. Pedagogy and scientific knowledge

Abstract

Although for a long time they have constituted two well-differentiated fields in Spain, secondary education and university education were very close until the beginning of the 20th century in their educational approaches and in their learning methods. But, with few exceptions, the teaching staff of both suffered from the same deficiencies: the lack of investigative and scientific spirit and the pedagogical backwardness.

To alleviate these deficiencies, the Board for the Extension of Studies and Scientific Investigations (JAE) designed a program aimed at scientific updating of professors, through its policy of scholarships abroad and the crea tion of research and study centers who directed At the same time, he tried a far-reaching pedagogical reform with the start-up of the Institute-School. In this way, he contributed to the scientific and pedagogical renovation of Spanish education and laid the foundations that made possible a new relationship between university and secondary school teachers. At the Institute-School, the professors and professors who were trained there were able to benefit from JAE scholarships and update their knowledge, side by side with university professors, under the direction of the great scientists and researchers who ran their institutions. On the other hand, the JAE promoted through the Institute-School a pedagogical model based on active teaching, which was also extensible to the university. In this sense, and in addition to other initiatives, the role played by the professors who came to the university from the Institute-School was important.