The diffusion of intuitive teaching and «object lessons» in Spain (1800-1936). State of the art and pending research

Abstract

The most relevant influence of Pestalozzian pedagogy on nineteenth-century popular education was the introduction of intuitive teaching, particularly the «object lessons» as a fundamental method based on intuition, which became quite popular at the time. This paper examines how recent Spanish historiography has dealt with the dissemination of this method, identifying research shortcomings and linking together studies that have contributed different approaches to the advancement of this topic. Starting from the initial studies that focused mainly on the figure of Pablo Montesino, the paper analyses the works that have dealt with the issue through the analysis of the pedagogical handbooks that were used in the training of teachers, as well as the debates that took place in the Pedagogical Congresses throughout the 19th century. It also highlights the contributions made to the subject from the field of the history of school disciplines and the curriculum, to finally focus on the study and interpretation of the wide dissemination of school textbooks on object lessons, intended for teachers and students, which proliferated between the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, supported by the expansion of the Spanish publishing industry at the time. The loss of strength of the debate on intuitive teaching in favor of a predominant interest in the psycho-pedagogical knowledge of the child in the first third of the 20th century is stated as an important pending research issue.