Liberating the Classroom: Pedagogical Innovation in Madrid

Abstract

The most important pedagogical initiative which emerged in Madrid during the years of the transition to democracy was Actión Educativa. It appeared in very different social and institutional contexts to those we saw in relation to trade-union mobilisation in the capital. Eventually it led to pedagogical innovation both in the private and the public sectors, but it clearly originated from a private chain of schools with clear Catholic origins. In this chapter we shall explore the environment from which the organisation developed and the social profile of the activists who founded it. We will also look at the extension of its activities and the organisation’s close relationship with the local authorities. We will conclude by attempting to evaluate the movement’s effects in some Madrid schools.