Public schools at the Colegio San Ignacio de Loyola, 1793-1844

Abstract

This article is about the public schools installed at the Colegio de San Ignacio de Loyola, from 1793 to 1844. The public schools “San Luis Gonzaga” were tuition free and were intended for poor girls. As they were schools of first letters, the girls learned to read and write, as well as basic knowledge of arithmetic and catechism; finally, they learned the work tied to their sex: sewing and embroidery. The analysis of these schools opens a window toward the educational past of women in which the cultural conceptions of the time determined the knowledge and learning that they should have. In accordance with the above, this research has employed a methodology based on the social and cultural history of education, which allows to explain both the educational contents, the learning processes and the interactions of our ancestors with their historical reality. Beyond this, the present article looks forward to make a contribution to women ́s knowledge and education in the past, following the arguments of present historiography of education in which the possibility to explore different topics – for example “female education” - has been opened. In this sense, the girls who assisted to the public schools “San Luis Gonzaga” received formal teaching because, beyond following the method of Lancaster schools, they also created specific rules for the instruction. The conclusions reached in this article point out to the fact that such establishments followed an educational model which was functional as well as economic. These public schools were designed to be at the reach of poor families who wished to send their daughters, sisters or relatives, to study without having to fulfill the strict requirements which were established for the Colegio de San Ignacio de Loyola.