Models for a new democratic school. The influence of the Italian pedagogy on collectives of teachers during the political transition in Catalonia and Spain

Abstract

The transition from Francoism towards a democratic regime involved the mobilisation of broad educational sectors in search of references for a school that would leave behind the impositions and miseries of a mediocre and authoritarian education. In addition to the recovery of the active pedagogy of the time of the Spanish Republic and the experiences of resistance that occurred in public and private schools during the dictatorship, groups of teachers and civic entities paid attention and incorporated educational proposals from other contexts which seemed suitable for the construction of a new public education. This article analyses the existing connections during the period of political transition (the 1970s and 1980s) of the renewal movements of education in Spain and, in particular, in Catalonia, with the pedagogical experiences, especially in the field of early childhood education (scuole
dell’infanzia) of municipalities and Italian cities.

Key words: political transition, pedagogical renewal, Italian pedagogy, early childhood education, educational policy, teacher training.