REFORM IN SPANISH EDUCATION: THE INSTITUCION LIBRE DE ENSENANZA
by Noel M. Valis Paper presented to Thomas Woody Society,
University of Pennsylvania, January 26, 1977 This document
examines the development and influence of the Free Institute of
Education (Institucion Libre de Ensenanza) and of its founder,
Don Francisco Giner de los Rios, in late nineteenth century
Spain. Founded in 1876 against a background of repression and
reimposition of state-controlled education during the Bourbon
Restoration the Institute was a private institution free of
Church and State. Its intent was to create an alternative to the
higher education system of official Spain, but due to financial
problems, it evolved into an institution of primary and
secondary education. Subject matter included traditional, State-
required subjects, but also anthropology, technology, social
sciences, economics, art, drawing, singing, and handwork--all
generally neglected in State- and Church-run schools. Most
radical were the innovations in art and p