Introduction of educational materials in the Chilean school system (1885-1913)

Abstract

In Chile, despite the growing research in the history of education, only some studies address the school from the material culture perspective. This article aims to analyze the process of incorporating educational materials into the public school system in Chile between the last decades of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. From the analysis of documentary historical sources -such as ministerial reports, catalogs of school materials, and inventories of schools, among others-, two factors that made possible the arrival of educational materials in Chilean classrooms are analyzed: first, the incorporation of intuitive theory in the curricula of schools at the end of the 19th century; and, secondly, the technological development associated with manufacturing and the commercial push that generated the demand for educational material. Based on the above, the article is structured into five sections. First, we will describe the intuitive theory's foundations and the senses' role in 19th-century pedagogy. Subsequently, we will analyze its influence on the Chilean school system and its role in configuring nineteenth-century educational policies. In the third section, we will delve into the production and marketing of educational material. Then, we will report how these processes came together in organizing the Exposición de Material Escolar held in 1885. Finally, we will offer conclusions about incorporating educational materials in public and high schools after the exhibition is described.