New Unified School Council facts for kids

The New Unified School Council (Catalan: Consell de l'Escola Nova Unificada, CENU) was an important education group. It was started in Barcelona on July 27, 1936.

This new school system aimed to be free for everyone. It was also secular, meaning it was not linked to any religion. Boys and girls learned together in co-educational classes. Lessons were taught in the Catalan language. The school was based on ideas of freedom and fairness.

The goal was to make sure all students could go from primary school to higher studies. This would happen based on their abilities, not their family's wealth. The CENU also wanted to organize schools and find suitable buildings. In 1930, Catalonia needed many more schools to teach everyone. The CENU wanted to give everyone a strong basic education. This would help them grow into well-rounded people. They could then help themselves and society.

Joan Puig i Elias (1898–1972) was a key person in starting the CENU. He was a teacher and believed in freedom in education. He continued the work of Francesc Ferrer i Guàrdia. Puig i Elias believed that children should be at the center of learning. He thought education should involve feelings and nature, not just facts. He was part of the CNT union. In July 1936, he led the CENU. The CENU stopped operating in February 1939 due to the Francoist dictatorship.

The New School: History and Goals

How the Council Started

Many teachers who believed in freedom were inspired by Francesc Ferrer i Guàrdia. He had started the Modern School. This school focused on rational thinking. Many similar schools were created across Spain, especially in Catalunya. Joan Puig i Elías came from this teaching background. He was an education advisor for the Central Committee of Antifascist Militias.

The New Unified School Council was formed during the Spanish Revolution of 1936. Its main goal was to organize a new way of teaching. This new system had to meet the needs of working people. The Council included members from trade unions and left-wing political parties. The CENU aimed for anti-fascist unity. Joan Puig i Elias was the leader of this group.

On July 27, 1936, the CENU officially began. They wanted to end religious schools run by the Church. They believed these schools had caused problems. Instead, they wanted a new school that taught rational ideas and promoted working together. The anarchists leading the council realized they needed more teachers and buildings. So, Puig i Elias worked with Republicans, Catalanists, and Socialists. He quickly got support from the UGT union and the Generalitat de Catalunya.

Planning the New Education System

The first step was to figure out what was needed. This happened during the school holidays in August. They estimated that 157,000 school places were needed. Most of these places were filled in the first year. However, many teachers went to fight in the war. This meant about 3,000 new teachers were needed. For the 1936-1937 school year, 2,000 new teachers were found. But some of these new teachers did not have the right qualifications.

Most teachers joined the UGT union. This meant many schools came under the UGT's influence. The UGT included Socialists, Communists, Catalanists, and Republicans. Almost everyone who was not part of the CNT joined the UGT.

The New Unified School was meant to be a school for all children. It would offer all levels of education, from kindergarten to university. All levels would be free. The government and the Generalitat supported it. A special council of experts would manage the teaching. It was not about making everyone the same. Instead, it was about making education fair for everyone. It allowed different ways of teaching and learning. But it had to follow certain main principles. It also had to respect how children develop at different ages.

This new system changed education laws in Catalunya. The goal was a General Education Plan. It included new ideas like a common study path from nursery school. It also linked primary and secondary education. It aimed for strong general knowledge in all university studies. It also wanted to include students with disabled and those with learning disabilities. It also focused on helping students choose careers.

The Council brought together different political groups. This helped them create the project. The CENU became a group that advised the Council of Culture.

Main Ideas of the Education Plan

The Education Plan had three main ideas:

• Teaching starts when a child is born. It continues until they are fully developed in skills and spirit. Starting early and for everyone helps make education equal.
• Children must learn together, no matter where they come from. Learning together helps children choose their paths based on their relationships. This helps avoid social differences from the start.
• Later choices will be based on what each person is good at. Teaching should find and grow each child's talents. It should also consider what they want to do.

New School Inspirations: Modern Teaching Methods

Many teachers from Catalonia studied at the Jean-Jacques Rousseau Institute in Geneva. This institute greatly helped modernize schools. It was inspired by the ideas of Jean-Jacques Rousseau and scientists like Édouard Claparède and Jean Piaget. The New School used three modern teaching methods: Montessori, Freinet, and Decroly. These methods wanted to replace old ways of teaching. Old ways were often "one size fits all" and very strict. The new methods were active, interactive, social, and more fun. They used ideas from how children develop.

• Maria Montessori created the Montessori method. It aimed to help children reach their full potential. It was not just about passing tests. Studies show that this method can lead to better results for children.
• The Freinet method wanted to build a fairer society. Célestin Freinet believed in equality, trust, and respect. He thought learning came from experience, not just from memorizing rules. He saw Childhood as a valuable time. Schools should offer useful activities. He wanted schools to be democratic places where students learn to live together.
• The Decroly method started with children's interests and needs. Ovide Decroly showed that children learn better when they are active in their own learning. He believed teaching should meet human needs, not just provide facts. He divided needs into primary (like eating), secondary (like self-love), and social needs. Learning was based on real-life experiences.

With these ideas, CENU had to train teachers. They also needed to create suitable spaces for different age groups. This included kindergartens, primary school, secondary school, and higher education.

School Buildings

The City Council's Culture Commission was in charge of building public schools. At that time, schools were often in unsuitable buildings. They might be in stables or hospital rooms. These places often had poor hygiene and too many students. It was hard to keep order without strict discipline. In the Catalan Countries, there were many buildings, but many more were needed for education.

Short-Term and Long-Term Goals

In the short term, the Council wanted to fight illiteracy. This means people who could not read or write. In 1930, many people in Barcelona and Spain could not read or write. The CENU also wanted to make it easier for students to go from primary to secondary school. This was especially important for families who needed help. They also wanted to improve teacher training.

In the long term, they planned to improve and expand school buildings. This would reduce the number of students in each class. They wanted a primary school in every town. They also wanted a secondary school in every town with more than five thousand people. The council hoped for free and required education for everyone up to age eighteen. Anyone with talent could go to higher education, no matter their family background. They planned to create special learning and working schools called "Technicum." They also wanted to help teachers get university training while they worked.

Beliefs and Challenges

The CENU was strongly against fascism. Because of this, they sometimes removed teachers who supported right-wing ideas or the Catholic Church. These actions caused protests from some political groups. The control over teachers became stronger after the anarchists lost leadership of the CENU. In June 1937, it became harder to become a teacher. People suspected of not being "politically related" enough were excluded.

However, Joan Puig i Elias believed in education as a way to create a peaceful society. He said that schools should not force children to fight against anyone. He believed children were not tools. He said schools should respect a child's mind completely. He thought that if adults believed in their own ideas, they didn't need to force them on children. He said that only people unsure of their own ideas would try to change a child's natural mind.

He said this during the Spanish Civil War. Even with all the hatred, he spoke about education being neutral. He said that if Catholics wanted to make Catholics, and socialists wanted to make socialists, anarchists did not want to make anarchists. He said, "what we propose is to make people." This idea of children's natural goodness was part of anarchist education. But the UGT union did not agree with this neutral view. They believed education should teach revolutionary ideas to prevent any "fascist deviation."

Puig Elias also had to explain his actions to other anarchists. Some saw the CENU as going against anarchist principles because it worked with the state. This group, mainly the Regional Federation of Rationalist Schools and the Libertarian Youth, thought CENU was too close to socialist policies. Joan's brother, Josep, argued that CENU was actually putting into practice the ideas approved at the CNT's Zaragoza Congress in May 1936.

Famous Schools of the New System

Escola del Mar

On March 7, 1921, the Barcelona City Council decided to build wooden buildings for the Escola del Mar. This school was to be on Barceloneta beach. Ventura Gassol, a city official, asked Pere Vergés to be its director.

Vergés accepted. On July 1, the building, still unfinished, hosted children's sea baths. On August 1, it also opened as a beach semi-colony. A year later, another school colony, Vilamar, opened in Calafell as an extension of the Escola del Mar. Pere Vergés followed the ideas of the New School. This school focused on music, the school library, and physical education. Physical education included breathing exercises and swimming.

Escola del Bosc

The Escola del Bosc (Forest School) was built on Montjuic mountain. The architect, Antoni Falguera, had studied similar buildings in Rome and Charlottenburg. Rosa Sensat wanted the school to be a place where children learned by living. The goal was to combine school learning with everyday experiences.

Old School vs. New School

See also

In Spanish: Consejo de la Escuela Nueva Unificada para niños