This article sketches the emergence, institutionalisation and emergent issues and challenges in the scholarly field of history of education in Latin America. It argues that these processes have been closely linked with nation-building and the decisive role of national politics. The impact of national politics is herein called a 'beneficial…

Calligraphic culture in education had a long tradition in the Hispanic World. This entailed the cultivation of specific forms of script to the detriment of others. Since the late eighteenth century, discussions about the shape of letters and the differences between different alphabets were associated with national characters. The "letra…

Introduction: The problem of establishing a modern inclusive system of education in Spain was not only one of large structures, but also one related to day-to-day operations in schools including didactics and methods. If liberals in Spain wanted to integrate a large section of the Spanish population into a school system, that system had to be…

During the last few decades, educational research has increasingly tried to legitimise itself by its alleged capacity to contribute to the solution of certain societal problems. The article discusses this claim on the basis of historical evidence. It addresses two episodes of educational change aimed at a 'freer' pedagogy and society and at…

Latin American independence from Spain and Portugal in the first decades of the nineteenth century was a process of global relevance. A considerable number of new polities emerged that had to deal with radically new political situations. Particularly in the case of the former Spanish colonies, a general rejection of the colonial past determined…

After independence, the new Latin American polities adopted republican systems of government. This crucial decision stressed the importance of vast projects of popular education for the shaping of the virtuous citizenry to come, a clearly different agent from the old colonial society. As a means of creating new citizens and, at the same time,…

In the Kingdom of Bavaria, the capital city, Munich, created in 1873 positions as "Oberlehrer"--a head teacher in primary schools ("Volksschulen") responsible for one school for boys and one school for girls. The mere existence of these male "Oberlehrer" challenged for the first time the exclusive power of Catholic…