The teaching and research into "the history of education in America" held in Spain

Abstract

This paper aims to present how the "History of Education in America" has been taught and constructed as an academic discipline in Spain, for the professional development for educators and/or teachers. The paper also seeks to address questions related to the History of Education in America in order to find out the key players and learners in this History, the universities involved in the process, the paths that have been followed and the approaches adopted (programs, texts, manuals), as well as when the History of Education in America was incorporated into the educational programs or if the program has been discontinued. Likewise, there is an attempt to describe the investigations conducted into this theme while discussing the process of knowledge construction in “the History of Education in America”; shaping its historical trajectory; the scope of educational planning and the key players; and how this research field has been explored in Spain. Therefore, the universities and research centers in Spain were the most important reference sites for analysis; however, this does not mean that there is a “State of the Art” issue. It can be concluded that the historians of education have contributed to some degree on the topic we are discussing here, but those considered experts or engaged with a long trajectory of the theme are not a large number; moreover, there is currently a smaller number of consolidated research groups that conduct studies on the History of Education in America, including them into their lines of research. There is an even more pessimistic scenario for the teaching, taking into account that a new framework for research and studies is leading to structural adjustments encompassing staffing and internal aspects of planning, and as a result "the History of Education in America" program will be discontinued in the teaching field in Spain.