The subject of this work is born from personal interest in the history of the anarchist movement in Spain, in particular because of its plasticity and ability to reconcile theory and practice. The creation of a new world is the highest objective in all the evolution of the movement and the means to achieve this are different in each situation. The libertarian pedagogy is developed around the premise that not only is it necessary to build a new society, but especially people who know how to live within it. To demonstrate this consistent relationship, the work consists of two parts: the first is a theoretical approach to the argument and the second analyzes the practical applications of these postulates.
Far from wanting to present a chronological history of anarchist educationalism, I have proposed to first analyze the very concept of education; The definition of education in the Anarchist Encyclopédie (1926-1934), a work that was proposed to synthesize all the tendencies of international anarchism, constitutes the starting point for a journey through the thoughts of several representative figures of anarchism . My goal is to point out the centrality of the topic: there are not many authors who write specific works on education, but all, one way or another, face the question in the development of one’s own thoughts.
Our choice falls on two of the schools that had the longest life, and that many helped to mark the guidelines of rationalist education: the School Light (1917-1923) of the Rationalist Athenian of Saints guided by Joan Roigé and Escola Natura (1918-1939) of the Textile and Factory Syndicate located in the Clot headed by Joan Puig Elías. The third center we analyze on the other hand was short lived and is not considered among the most representative: the Eliseo Reclús School (1935-1936) located in Vallespir street, Sants, of which Félix Carrasquer was responsible. The testimony of Carrasquer himself, who tells the whole experience with richness of details, from the foundation to his achievements, makes him fundamental to our analysis.