Belgian Influences on Educational Reforms Promoted by the Spanish General Education Law (Ley General de Educación, 1970

Abstract

By the end of the 1960s, the weaknesses of the Spanish education system were widely recognised. The shifts in political and ideological structures after the II WW contributed to a complex interplay of ideas around Europe; nevertheless, Spain did not participate in this exchange until the sixties. The influences of foreign countries on the Ley General de Educación (1970) have been frequently discussed. This work is part of a larger project on foreign influences on the Spanish Educational policies using education journals as a main source. The aim of this paper is to show the image given about education in Belgium by Revista de Educación, published by the Ministry of Education. The 211 issues of Revista de Educación published between 1952 and 1970 have been reviewed. The reform of secondary education, including vocational training and high school, was one of the issues that occupied the most space in educational policy and it was important to know how it was structured in other countries. This subject was the most important in Spain due that the reform of the Spanish education system structure was the most complex and pressing issue to address (besides guaranteeing free and compulsory education to every child until the age of fourteen). The Belgium presence in Revista de Educación in those years was relatively frequent, without occupying a relevant place. The central concern of the education police was the changes that had to be introduced in the education system to expand common basic education, ending with the unfair separation of students at the age of ten. Following the examples of different European countries, included Belgium, the first step to comprehensive education was taken. This research is part of the R+D+i Project “Connecting History of Education. International networks, scientific production and global dissemination” (CHE) / (Ref .: PID2019-105328GB-I00 Call 2019 - «R&D&i Projects». Ministry of Science and Innovation. Spain).