Nursery schools and Kindergärten in Mexico City: setting up a school culture for children under six, 1881-1917

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to reflect on the school materiality of nursery schools and Kindergärten in Mexico City in the period 1881-1917. I analyze in particular the way in which these institutions were founded, the need to create and adapt spaces according to the characteristics of children under 6 years of age, as well as the need to provide them with furniture and school supplies for them. The analysis intends to answer the following questions: What were the spaces occupied by these establishments like? What was the school furniture and supplies for nursery schools and Kindergarten like? How was this school materiality transformed? Were these adaptations, constructions or ad hoc purchases? The methodological approach consists in identifying the characteristics of the houses they occupied, the school furniture and supplies, as well as their transformations, in order to trace how a specific school culture for young children was shaped that contributed to constitute this level of education as separate and independent from primary schooling. The work is based on several bibliographic and archival sources: inventories, applications for materials, purchases, programs and reports. It takes inspiration from a cultural history approach, in particular perspectives on school culture and school materiality. It was found that both nursery schools and Kindergärten were intended to be spaces that isolated children from negative environmental influences. Both establishments occupied leased properties that constantly required adaptations and repairs, it was identified that these were carried out more frequently in the case of Kindergärten. The furniture and school supplies were changing over time towards a less scholastic function in the Kindergärten. For its acquisition, custom constructions and purchases were made in Mexico and abroad.