Barcelona City Council’s educational renewal and its photographic diffusion (1908-1936) La renovación escolar del Ayuntamiento de Barcelona y su difusión fotográfica (1908-1936) Sara Gónzalez Gómez, PhD. Lecturer. University of the Balearic Islands ([email protected]). Bernat Sureda Garcia, PhD. Professor. University of the Balearic Islands ([email protected]). Francisca Comas Rubí, PhD. Senior Lecturer. University of the Balearic Islands ([email protected]). Abstract: active learning processes, the importance of Barcelona City Council’s actions in the the natural environment, the need for modern framework of Catalonia’s educational renewal buildings and well­lit and ventilated schools, movement of the early decades of the twentieth and attention to diversity comprised core val­ century were very significant. They involved a ues in the dissemination of the discourse that series of measures to improve education, hy­ is the subject matter of this research1. year LXXV, n. 268, September-December 2017, 519-539 giene, and childcare provision, and to create schools and introduce innovative educational Keywords: School renewal, Barcelona, Cul­ methods. All of these activities were promoted ture Commission, photography. in a series of publications in which photogra­ phy played a vital role. The aim of this article is to analyse the iconic and visual discourse Resumen: that Barcelona City Council tried to dissem­ La actuación del Ayuntamiento de Bar­ inate regarding its schools policy and educa­ celona en el marco del movimiento educativo tional renewal plans using photography. In renovador que vivió Cataluña en las prime­ revista española de pedagogía essence, we intend to examine how, through ras décadas del siglo XX, fue muy importante. its visual message, it attempted to implant Consistió en un conjunto de medidas para la in the public imagination the main ideas be­ mejora de las atenciones educativas, higié­ hind its educational renewal project, ideas nicas y asistenciales de la infancia, y en la that coincided with the scientific pedagogy of creación de escuelas e introducción de méto­ those years. The historical method was used dos educativos innovadores. A toda esta ac­ to carry out this study, working with photog­ tuación se le dio publicidad mediante un con­ raphy as witness. The aim is to demonstrate junto de publicaciones en las que la fotografía how preventative hygiene, physical exercise, adquiere un papel esencial. El siguiente ar­ Revision accepted: 2017-04-11. This is the English version of an article originally printed in Spanish in issue 268 of the revista española de pedagogía. For this reason, the abbreviation EV has been added to the page numbers. Please, cite this article as follows: Gónzalez Gómez, S., Sureda Garcia, B., & Comas Rubí, F. (2017). La renovación escolar del Ayuntamiento de Barcelona y su difusión fotográfica (1908-1936) | Barcelona City Council’s edu-cational renewal and its photographic diffusion (1908-1936). Revista Española de Pedagogía, 75 (268), 519-539. doi: https://doi.org/10.22550/REP75-3-2017-03 https://revistadepedagogia.org/ ISSN: 0034-9461 (Print), 2174-0909 (Online) 519 EV Sara GÓNZALEZ GÓMEZ, Bernat SUREDA GARCÍA and Francisca COMAS RUBÍ tículo pretende analizar el discurso icónico y como como testimonio. Se pretende poner en visual que, mediante la fotografía, trató de evidencia como la higiene preventiva, el ejer­ difundir el Ayuntamiento de Barcelona so­ cicio físico, los procedimientos de enseñanza bre su política escolar y sus planes de reno­ activos, la importancia del medio natural, la vación educativa. Básicamente, pretendemos necesidad de modernos edificios y espacios es­ indagar cómo, a través del mensaje visual, se colares iluminados y ventilados o la atención trató de incorporar al imaginario colectivo las a la diversidad, constituyeron valores primor­ principales ideas inspiradoras de su proyecto diales en la difusión del discurso que es objeto de renovación pedagógica, que coincide con la de estudio en esta investigación. pedagogía científica de aquellos años. Para efectuar este estudio se ha utilizado el méto­ Descriptores: Renovación escolar, Barcelo­ do histórico y se ha trabajado con la fotografía na, Comisión de Cultura, fotografía. 1. Introduction narily valuable documentary corpus for From the end of the first decade of the uncovering the characteristics of the ini­ twentieth century, Barcelona City Coun­ tiatives implemented by Barcelona City cil found itself obliged to respond to a sig­ Council and seeing how a visual discourse nificant increase in demand for schooling was constructed to emphasise these re­ resulting from strong population growth. forming ideas superiority over traditional To meet this demand, the Council of Bar­ ones. celona, within the limitations of its lim­ Those examining the work performed ited competences in this field, sought to by Barcelona City Council in this era build on the modern educational theories can rely on a pioneering work by Jaume that were spreading at that time in Eu­ Matas (1977). Following this, books by rope and the USA. The reformist ideas Cañellas and Toran (1982) on Barcelo­ in education of the Institución Libre de na City Council’s school’s policy between Enseñanza (Free Educational Institute), 1916 and 1936 were published as well as modernised with those of the Escuela one by Salvador Domènech (2008) on the Nueva (New School), boosted an ambitious school groups created by the School Board plan to build school buildings and open­ during the Republic. Some monographs air schools, reorganise support for people analyse more specific aspects, such as with disabilities, and generally promote those by Alfred Pérez-Bastardas (2008) and intensify activities to improve chil­ and Raquel de la Arada (2008) on the spe­ revista española de pedagogía 2017, 519-539 n. 268, September-December LXXV, year dren’s conditions. cial culture budget of 1908. Domènech’s This effort was recorded in some sev­ work (1995) covers Manuel Ainaud. The enty books and pamphlets, extensively book by Gonzalez-Agàpito, Marquès, illustrated with photographs. The collec­ Mayordomo, and Sureda (2002) provides tion of these photographs is an extraordi­ an overview of the actions of Barcelona 520 EV Barcelona City Council’s educational renewal and its photographic diffusion City Council in educational renewal in on details. The reforming activities of the Catalonia in this era. Catalanist right in education, as in other fields, occurred in particular in the com­ Several works have been published bined governments of the provinces of in recent years regarding methodological Catalonia from 1914 in the Mancomuni­ questions, the possibilities of photog­ tat de Catalunya (Commonwealth of Cat­ raphy as a historical­educational source, alonia). At the same time, in Barcelona and the debate around the techniques City Council, not without tensions and required for interpreting it (Pozo, 2006; confrontations, a fruitful collaboration Educació i Història, 2010). Other publica­ developed between republicans and Cat­ tions have more specifically explored the alanists enabling a wide­ranging plan for role of photographs in the dissemination school buildings and for modernisation of renovative ideas in Spain (Comas, Mo­ of teaching and institutions providing tilla, and Sureda, 2011) and in Catalonia for children, such as school camps, chil­ in particular (Comas and Sureda, 2012; dren’s canteens, and urban parks for play. Comas, Motilla, and Sureda, 2014; Sure­ The educational reformism of Barcelona da, Motilla, and Comas, 2014). Council was part of this will to modernise the city, improving hygiene conditions year LXXV, n. 268, September-December 2017, 519-539 and services. The plans for new school 2. The educational work of Barce- buildings responded to both the pedagogic lona City Council and aesthetic criteria of the period. Barcelona City Council actions in the framework of Catalonia’s educational re­ The initial impulse for the education­ newal movement in the first decades of al programme of Barcelona City Council the twentieth century were very import­ owed much to Hermenegildo Giner de los ant. They involved creating schools, re­ Ríos (Cadiz, 1847-Granada, 1923) who newing teaching methods and, in general, was the brother of the founder of the Free revista española de pedagogía improving education, hygiene, and child­ Educational Institute, was committed to care provision. The impetus that the City Krausist ideas, and for twenty years from Council proposed giving to schools and 1989 to 1918 held a chair in psychology, childcare coincided with the influence in logic, and moral philosophy at the Insti­ Catalonia of the ideas of the New School, tuto de Segunda Enseñanza de Barce­ adopted by the Catalanist right to lay the lona (Barcelona Institute of Secondary foundations for a programme of social re­ Education). Ever since his youth, he had form and for building a new national proj­ sympathised with republican ideas and ect for Catalonia. The Catalanist right, was elected as a councillor for the Unión representing the industrial bourgeoisie, Republicana (Republican Union) party and groups from the republican centre­ in the municipal elections of November left agreed on the need to modernise ed­ 1903, a position he would hold on several ucation, especially from the start of the occasions. In the council, he enjoyed great second decade of the twentieth century, prestige, even among his political rivals albeit with disagreements and differences who respected his opinions on educational 521 EV Sara GÓNZALEZ GÓMEZ, Bernat SUREDA GARCÍA and Francisca COMAS RUBÍ matters and supported his proposals pioneer of active schools in Catalonia. on schools policy. His propositions, influ­ The budget plan was criticised by the as­ enced by the Free Educational Institute, sociation of public teachers, which felt it took shape in the plans to build open­air was inappropriate to create model centres schools, such as the one in the woods of while not meeting the needs of all schools. Montjuic, conceived in 1906 but not inau­ The Church opposed it because of its lay gurated until 1914, the municipal school focus and support for coeducation.