school organization

In the context of the current debate regarding the best school setting (single-sex schooling v. coeducation) several advocates of coeducation have published emblematic papers that implicitly suggest that the debate should be considered as finished and that further research regarding this topic is not needed. This essay aims to refute the combined arguments of those articles using methodological and empirical facts, and show that the debate about this question and research into it should not be seen as complete, but instead should be promoted. At the same time, the essay identifies certain features in the aforementioned articles that present a risk of distorting science by moving towards arguments of an ideological nature, and it underlines the problem this represents for the debate itself and for science in general.
The article does not seek to defend single-sex education, only the need for further research into it.

 

 

Cite this article as: Gordillo, E. G. (2017). Educación diferenciada y coeducación: continuar el debate y proteger la ciencia | Single-sex schooling and coeducation: the continuation of the debate and the defence of science. Revista Española de Pedagogía, 75 (267), 255-271.  doi: https://doi.org/10.22550/REP75-2-2017-05

This article examines the biography and scientific production of this distinguished Spanish educator. He was born in Cuenca (Spain) on March 27th, 1920, and died in Madrid, on June 21th, 1998.

He held a scholarship in the Instituto San José de Calazanz and was a collaborator with the Spanish Society of Pedagogy. At the age of 33 he became a Professor of Teacher Training Colleges. He worked as a teacher, mainly in the Teacher Training Colleges Fray Luis de León and María Díaz Jiménez. He was appointed Provincial Representative of Education in Cuenca. In recognition of his professional excellence, he was awarded with the Prize of the Alfonso X the Wise Civil Society. He published several books and a number of articles in the most prestigious journals at that time, which dealt with almost all pedagogical aspects.

 

Key Words: History of Pedagogy, School Organization, Didactics

This research is based on the thesis that exists a close relationship between the location and internal layout of space given over to any specific school activity and the nature, importance and conception of each. In brief, this article applies this general thesis to a specific school space (the principal's office) and a certain type of school (the graded one).

Bearing in mind the relationships that likewise exists between the genesis and the diffusion of the graded school in Spain throughout the XXth century, and the genesis and consolidation of the figure of principal at the primary education, this research aims to analyse the relation- ships that have existed between physical location of the principal's office and the different conceptions of the nature, role, and functions of the post of principal, a key aspect of the school organization.