Towards an educational modernization process: UNESCO interactions with Franco’s Spain (1952–1970)
Fecha
2021Resumen
Purpose – After World War II, an educational modernization process gained ground worldwide. International
organizations such as UNESCO began to play a key role in the creation, development and dissemination of a
new educational vision in different countries. This article examines the origin and development of this
modernization process under the dictatorship of Franco. More specifically, we will show how the adoption of
this conception in Spain must be understood from the perspective of the interaction between UNESCO and
Franco’s regime, and how the policies of the dictatorship converged with the proposals suggested by this
international organization. Our principal argument is that the educational policies carried out in Spain
throughout the second half of the 20th century can be better understood when inserted into a transnational
perspective in education.
Design/methodology/approach – This article uses documents from archives that until now were
unpublished or scarcely known. We have also analyzed materials published in the preeminent educational
journals of the dictatorship, such as the Revista de Educaci on, Revista Espanola de Pedagog ~ ıa, Bord on and Vida
escolar, as well as documents published by the Spanish Ministry of National Education.
Findings – Franco’s dictatorship built an educational narrative closely aligned with proposals put forward by
UNESCO on educational planning after World War II. The educational policies created by the dictatorship were
related to the new ideas that strove to link the educational system with economic and social development.
Originality/value – This article is inspired by a transnational history of education perspective. On the one
hand, it traces the origins of educational modernization under Franco’s regime, which represented a technocratic
vision of education that is best understood as a result of the impact that international organizations had in the
second half of the 20th century. On the other hand, it follows the intensifying relationship between the
dictatorship and the educational ideas launched by UNESCO. Both aspects are little known and studied in Spain