Call for Papers to the Monograph Planed for the Second Semester of 2026 in Educació i Història, Revista d’Història de l’Educació Published by the Societat d'Història de l'Educació, an Affiliate of the Institut d'Estudis Catalans. The editorial team of Educació i Història. Revista d'Història de l'Educació invites submissions of original, unpublished articles for consideration in the peer review process for the upcoming monograph entitled "Childhood, City, and Democratic Education: Municipal Educational Policy from the 20th to the 21st Century". Submissions must be made via the journal's online platform by 15 January 2026 (to register as a user, please click [here]).

Monograph: "Childhood, City, and Democratic Education: Municipal Educational Policy from the 20th to the 21st Century"

Coordination: Núria Simó-Gil and Joan Soler Mata (University of Vic – Central University of Catalonia).

Presentation:

The commemoration of the centenary of the birth of the Catalan educator and politician Marta Mata Garriga (1926 – 2006) and, at the same time, the twentieth anniversary of her death are a pretext to review the main common places of education and pedagogical renewal in the transition from the 20th to the 21st century. Especially in the half century that begins with the Spanish political transition and extends until the first decades of the 21st century.

Marta Mata is a key figure in understanding the evolution of 20th century education in Catalonia and the Spanish State. Her work and educational activity must be placed within the framework of the tensions and dynamism of Catalan and Spanish education in the last century with a clear projection towards the current century.

Marta Mata Garriga's biography encompasses the two areas that identify her: pedagogy and politics. Her pedagogical and political commitments became inseparable elements, each incomprehensible without the other. Without fear of error, we can assert that she consistently aimed to integrate the principles of pedagogical renewal into the heart of political debate. She sought to ensure these principles became central to arguments, guiding both political programs and concrete actions. She achieved this across different levels and institutions, including the socialist groups in the Parliament of Catalonia, the Congress and Senate of the Spanish State, the Education Area of ​​the City Council and the Provincial Council of Barcelona and, in her final stage, in the presidency of the State School Council.

The core themes of Marta Mata's actions and writings include significant pedagogical and political topics such as education and state school, early childhood education, children's rights, democratic schooling, municipal educational policy, the educating city, pedagogical renewal, teacher training, language and different languages ​​and the school libraries.

In this monograph we propose to review, from a historical perspective, the place of childhood in the city, understood as a space of coexistence and a driving force for a democratic education in turbulent times, such as the present. In short, the aim is to analyse the elements that, within the framework of a democratic and participatory municipal educational policy, converge towards the utopia of the educating city in the Catalan and Spanish context, as well as in the European and international context.

Deadline for submission of manuscripts: from 1 October 2025 to 15 January 2026.