Aproximación a la educación canaria a través de la fotografía escolar

Abstract

The Museum of the Education at the University of La Laguna (MEdULL) guards an important collection of canarian school photographs. The collection is very interesting, because the school photography is not well represented in the image files of the Canary Islands. This article aims to present some photographs stored in MEdULL, and to reflect on its potential as a tool of historical, educational and sociological analysis. The early school photographs were made in private and religious schools. In the twenties were also common in public schools and during the Second Republic were published some photographs of girls’ schools in postcard format, which was associated with an increased female attendance in canarian schools and better pedagogical training of teachers. After the war, the poverty and hardship in rural areas of the Canary Islands can be seen on the feet of children, that in school pictures of that time usually appear barefoot, as at the beginning of the century. The school pictures of the francoist period shows what we already knew from other sources: the religion penetrated the entire school and many teachers became cooperants with the religion and the celebration of communions, that permeated the school culture of the time.