THE SCHOOL IN THE PROVINCE OF PALENCIA IN THE FIRST HALF OF THE XIX CENTURY

Abstract

With the present work we have tried to elaborate a brief history of primary education, of the boys and girls of the schools of the towns, villages and cities of the province of Palencia in the first half of the XIX century (more specifically from 1808 to 1840 approximately). After a brief introduction to the subject, we started by specifying the socio-political circumstances of the time, and the situation of the geographical environment; the circumstances that determine or affect the school building; the factors that determine the different types of schools; its curricular contents; the material means they used; the possibilities offered by the geographic space in which they were located; the response that the town councils of the towns or villages to which it belonged to their needs, the type of construction of the school building; the contribution of parents in the financial remuneration of teachers; the wide variety of situations they offered. But above all we have tried to get closer to the school reality experienced by the boys and girls of many towns in the province of Palencia at that time. We have detected the different possibilities of schooling in which girls were compared to boys; the scarce resources available to them; and the practically non-existent presence of teachers.