Past and present of school printing and the books of life: Freinet’s techniques in the Spanish state with regard to some recent publications

Abstract

Recent publications on Freinet’s techniques in Spanish schools constitute a good opportunity to learn about the contributions of schoolteachers who committed to pedagogical renovation, and demonstrate the validity of the educator Celestin Freinet’s practices. Our contribution describes and matches the main ideas stated in the most recent studies on Freinet’s techniques related to language learning, in order to review some important aspects of the research and carry out a brief review of the figure of
educators that promoted school printing, the creation of school magazines and books of life in Spain. Proposals based on handling, experimental trial and error, the need for expression of the child, the encouragement of linguistic reflection and creativity, which renewed the learning focus on reading and writing, and that nowadays are indicated as useful practices. The aim is to contribute to the dissemination of the valuable legacy of schoolteachers who believed in a renovated school and at the same time, to the recovery of the basis of their educational ideas. The vitality of current researches demonstrates the growing interest in recovering the Freinet’s contributions, so as to know our past and reflect on the improvement of present and future teaching.

KEY WORDS: pedagogic renovation, active education, Freinet techniques, school printing, books of life, school magazine, teaching reading and writing.