Rosa Bruno-Jofré

Catholic teaching congregations and synthetic configurations: building identity through pedagogy and spirituality across national boundaries and cultures

This special issue on the educational work of women and men religious was inspired by the conclusions of Bart Hellinckx, Frank Simon and Marc Depaepe in their book The Forgotten Contribution of the Teaching Sisters: A Historiographical Essay on the Educational Work of Catholic Women Religious in the 19 and 20 Centuries. The authors open a discussion for a renewed and expanded agenda on teaching women religious. This issue aims at furthering that agenda by focusing on the work of scholars who analyse communities of both men and women religious. The growing historiographical body on religious congregations and on the Roman Catholic church differentiates itself from the hagiographical character of most histories of congregations, both male and female, and of official histories of the Church written before the 1980s. The sophistication of current research on religious congregations is clearly demonstrated in the historiography of the past decades and, of course, in this special issue. The history of religious congregations, and of teaching sisters in particular, began to develop in the 1990s (as Smyth indicated in 1994, the research in this area was just beginning at that time), along with strands of feminist theories and various historiographical “turns”. In some cases, the histories reflect a tendency emerging from the linguistic and cultural turns to move away from enduring structures and forms, and stress the discursive components of religious life and relational power, issues of representation, the exploration

History of education in Canada: historiographic “turns” and widening horizons

This paper explores major historiographic “turns” in history of education with a focus, although not exclusively, on English-speaking Canada. It addresses the transformative intellectual impact of the turn toward social history on the history of education, the impact of cultural history and the linguistic turn, the reception of Michel Foucault, and the state of the debate in history at-large today and its implications for the history of education. It also attempts to contextualise the intellectual trends permeating the writing of the history of education in light of developments in education, and signals new directions in historiography influencing history of education. Given the limitations of space, rather than engaging in a historiographical analysis of individual historians of education, the paper traces broad trends, while highlighting the contributions of a significant few.

The Missionary Oblate Sisters of the Sacred Heart and Mary Immaculate (MO) and the Sisters of Our Lady of the Missions (RNDM): the intersection of education, spirituality, the politics of life, faith and language in the Canadian prairies, 1898–1930

This article analyses the educational work of two teaching Congregations – Les Missionnaires Oblates du Sacré-Coeur et de Marie Immaculée (The Missionary Oblate Sisters of the Sacred Heart and Mary Immaculate/ MO) and the Religieuses de Notre Dame de Missions (Sisters of Our Lady of Missions/ RNDM) – on the Canadian prairies between 1898 and 1930. It explores the two Congregations’ understandings of mission and education and their spirituality in terms of the Sisters’ ways of relating to God and in light of their work, having in mind the theological parameters and values set by the authority of the Catholic church, as well as the intersections of the Sisters’ ministry with the cultural and political life in the communities. Particular attention is given to the Franco-Manitoban communities where education, language and faith intertwined. The article considers that the Sisters lived within a linguistic mental space with boundaries which were part of their existential reality, and operated within a semantic field that helped them make sense of and bridge their sometimes disparate worlds.

Ruralizando a Dewey: el amigo americano, la colonización interna y la escuela de la acción en el México postrevolucionario (1921-1940)

espanolEl articulo examina como y en que medida las ideas de John Dewey fueron adoptadas y adaptadas por la elite educativa y politica del Mexico posrevolucionario y sus consecuencias. Provee el contexto politico, socio-economico y cultural de la recepcion asi como las vias de entrada de las ideas de Dewey a Mexico, incluyendo las relaciones entre la Secretaria de Educacion Publica, la Universidad Nacional de Mexico y Columbia University (en particular Teachers College), y las misiones protestantes. Discute los problemas e ideas que caracterizaron los debates y mediaron la adopcion y adaptacion de ideas pedagogicas internacionales y presta particular atencion a la construccion de la Mexicanidad (nation building) a traves de la incorporacion o de la integracion (dependiendo de la corriente imperante) de la poblacion indigena y rural en un contradictorio y eclectico proyecto modernizador. La introduccion de las ideas de Dewey se discuten en el contexto de las tendencias educativas y politicas dentro de la Secretaria. No se deja de lado el impacto negativo que tuvieron algunas ideas progresivas en la poblacion rural e indigena. En la ultima parte, el articulo se centra en la obra de Rafael Ramirez que fue un educador progresivo, un personaje central en la Secretaria donde sirvio por largo tiempo a pesar de los cambio de lideres. Dedico su vida a la educacion rural y su mision civilizadora y dejo un legado escrito que incluye su lectura de Dewey. EnglishThe article examines how and to what extent the ideas of John Dewey were adopted and adapted by the political and educational elite of post-revolutionary Mexico and the consequences of that adoption. It provides the political, cultural, and socio-economic context of reception as well as the various points of entry of Dewey`s ideas including the relation between the Secretary of Education, the Universidad Nacional de Mexico and Columbia University (in particular Teachers College) and the influence of the Protestant missionaries. The article discusses the issues and ideas that characterized the political and educational debates of the time and mediated the traveling and reception of international pedagogical ideas. It pays particular attention to the building of Mexicanidad (nation building) through the incorporation or the integration (depending on the dominant current thought) of the rural and indigenous population in a contradictory and eclectic modernizing project. It does not neglect the negative consequences of the translation of some progressive ideas. The introduction of Dewey`s ideas are discussed within the context of the various political and educational tendencies inside the Secretary. The last part of the paper is devoted to Rafael Ramirez, a progressive educator, a central protagonist, who served in the Secretary for a long time in spite of political changes and who devoted his life to rural education and its civilizing mission. He wrote about education and we can trace his reading of Dewey. francaisCet article examine comment et a quel point les idees de John Dewey furent adoptees et adaptees par l’elite politique et educative du Mexique post-revolutionnaire et les consequences de cette adoption. Il fournit le contexte de reception politique, culturel et socio-economique ainsi que les divers points d’entree des idees de Dewey, y inclus la relation entre le Secretaire de l’Education, la Universidad Nacional de Mexico et l’Universite Columbia (en particulier le College de l’Education), et l’influence des missionnaires protestants. L’article discute des questions et des idees qui caracterisaient les debats politiques et educatifs du temps et qui vehiculaient les idees pedagogiques internationales. Il porte une attention particuliere a la construction de la Mexicanadad (nation mexicaine) par l’incorporation ou l’integration (dependant de la pensee courante dominante) de la population rurale et indigene dans un projet de modernisation contradictoire et eclectique. L’auteure ne neglige pas les consequences negatives de la translation de certaines idees progressistes. L’introduction des idees de Dewey est discutee dans le contexte des diverses tendances educatives et politiques au sein du Secretariat. La derniere partie du papier est consacree a Rafael Ramirez, un educateur progressiste et protagoniste central, qui servit longtemps au Secretariat en depit des changements politiques et qui a consacre sa vie a l’education rurale et a sa mission civilisatrice. Ramirez a ecrit au sujet de l’education et nous pouvons retracer sa lecture de Dewey dans ses ecrits.

Monsignor Ivan Illich's Critique of the Institutional Church, 1960–1966

This paper examines the process of radicalisation of Monsignor Ivan Illich during the 1960s, having as its setting Cuernavaca, Mexico – a creative, fluid space where Illich was in contact with Bishop Mendez Arceo, Erich Fromm and Gregorio Lemercier. Illichs writings and the reports from the centres led by him are placed here in context, and it is argued that his encounter with psychoanalysis in Cuernavaca shaped his critique of the Church as an institution. The radicalisation of his concept of the Church reached a high point with the publication of ‘The seamy side of charity’ and ‘The vanishing clergyman’, both in 1967.

Introduction to the Special Section: Peripathetic Journey of Education in a Globalizing and “Educationalized” World

In this special international issue, Pensamiento Educativo critically addresses core themes underlying our current discourse on education and conveys alternative ways of thinking about them. Our contributors historicize the issues by addressing contemporary problems and assumptions from a historical perspective. To historicize does not imply to narrate a past detached from the present, but to enlighten the genesis of the present ideologies, aspirations, and (sometimes) fooleries that have become commonplace in educational discourse and practice. Nonetheless, the purpose is not only deconstruction, but the freeing of oneself from the burden of unconscious effects of the past and tradition. As Quentin Skinner (2002a) puts it, we have to use the opportunity “that historical study [has] the power to transform us, to help us think more effectively about our society and its possible need for reform and reformation” (p. 26), because “to learn from the past... is to learn one of the keys to self-awareness itself” (Skinner, 2002b, p. 89).

THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN CHILE AND THE SOCIAL QUESTION IN THE 1930s: THE POLITICAL PEDAGOGICAL DISCOURSE OF FERNANDO VIVES DEL SOLAR, S.J

The author examines the political pedagogical discourse of Chilean Jesuit Fernando Vives del Solar (1871–1935), focusing on the conceptual field configuring his discourse. Of particular relevance are his repudiation of injustice as a central element of his religious calling, his religious and political formation influenced by European developments, his reading of Pope Leo XIII’s Rerum Novarum, his role in the Social League (Liga Social), and his confrontations with sectors of the church hierarchy and the Conservative Party. His social work and the crisis leading to his dismissal from the Catholic Action can be understood in the context of new political configurations and a renewed Catholic Christian social language, which were eventually manifested in the Falange Nacional and the Christian Democratic Party.

Methodist education in Peru : social gospel, politics, and American ideological and economic penetration, 1888-1930

With research based on extensive primary sources, the author examines the activities of the Methodist mission in Peru, in particular its educational work, within the Peruvian socioeconomic formation and its ideological and intellectual changes. Yet her study goes beyond Methodist boundaries: Social Gospel doctrine and educational theory, which link American Progressivism (especially John Deweys pedagogical ideas) with Christianity, are also treated at an interdenominational level. The book contends that Methodist schools constituted an educational system of their own within a socioeconomic formation of uneven character, a society where an imperialist presence was interwoven with pre-capitalist as well as local incipient capitalist forms. The authors analysis of the political dimension of missionary work--from the quest for religious freedom to the attempt to exert influence on social movements--leads her to consider the relationships among APRA leaders, the missionaries, and the interdenominational Committee on Cooperation in Latin America. Bruno-Jofre argues that Social Gospel doctrines, although couched in reformist language, were ultimately a vehicle of North American theology. This book presents a refreshingly wide perspective on the development of education in the Third World as affected by missionary bodies from the First World.