Freinet pedagogy in the university: an innovative project in the History of Education

Abstract

In the framework of European educational convergence, university teaching must respond to the new challenges posed by the European System of Transfer Credits (ECTS) while encouraging improvement and innovation in didactical aspects of formation. In Spain, the field of the History of Education has assumed an active role in the advancement of teaching quality by promoting projects for innovation and reform through different institutions and organisms. In this article we will describe a project for teaching innovation, supported by the Universidad Complutense of Madrid’s Vice-rectory of quality, which is based on the pedagogy of Freinet. The aim of the project is to apply the Freinet methodology to the teaching of the History of Education to undergraduate students of primary education, pre-school education and pedagogy. The reasons for introducing the Freinet techniques in the university classroom have to do above all with the versatility of its methodology. The method’s didactic potential in forming teachers – owing principally to its way of integrating and unifying diverse innovative methodologies from the Progressive Education movement – has been amply demonstrated. On the fiftieth anniversary of his death, the pedagogy of the French educator has been shown to be as relevant as ever.