Ferrer movement

The Ferrer school was an early 20th century libertarian school inspired by the anarchist pedagogy of Francisco Ferrer. He was a proponent of rationalist, secular education that emphasized reason, dignity, self-reliance, and scientific observation, as opposed to the ecclesiastical and dogmatic standard Spanish curriculum of the period. Ferrer's teachings followed in a tradition of rationalist and romantic education philosophy, and 19th century extragovernment, secular Spanish schools. He was particularly influenced by Paul Robin's orphanage at Cempuis.

With this ideal in mind, Ferrer established the Escola Moderna in Barcelona, which ran for five years between 1901 and 1906. Ferrer tried a less dogmatic approach to education that would try to draw out the child's natural powers, though children still received moral indoctrination on social responsibility and the importance of freedom. Ferrer championed practical knowledge over theory, and emphasized experiences and trips over readings. Pupils were free and trusted to direct their own education and attend as they pleased. The school also hosted lectures for adults in the evenings and weekends. It also hosted a printing press to create readings for the school. The press ran its own journal with news from the school and articles from prominent libertarian writers.

Following Ferrer's execution, an international Ferrer movement (also known as the Modern School movement) spread throughout Europe and as far as Brazil and the United States, most notably in the New York and Stelton Modern School.

Francisco Ferrer, through his Escuela Moderna, sought to afford children educational liberties uncommon for the time period. Upon his return to Barcelona in 1901, following 16 years of exile in Paris, Ferrer became a prominent proponent of education focused on reason, dignity, self-reliance, and scientific observation. Standard Spanish schools, by comparison, emphasized piety and obedience under the authority of the Church. Where those schools used formal regulation and dogmatic curriculum to discipline and conform, Ferrer wanted his school to encourage originality, independence, the combination of manual and intellectual work, openness between children and teachers, and participation of children and parents in school administration.

Ferrer's pedagogy descended from a libertarian pedagogical tradition from 18th century rationalism and 19th century romanticism, with pedagogues including Rousseau, Pestalozzi, Froebel, Kropotkin, and Tolstoy. These influences advocated learning through experience and treating children with love and warmth. By removing the influence of the church and state from mass education, they argued, the enlightened public would upend the status quo. A free education, to Ferrer, entailed educators who would use improvised experimentation and spontaneity—rather than their own formal dogma—to arouse the child's will and autodidactic drive. His beliefs on pedagogy did not follow a single school of thought, being of a time when ideological separations were not as pronounced. Instead, they reflected a rough and ready Spanish tradition of extragovernment, rationalist education: the republicans and Fourierists schools (1840–50s), the anarchist and secularist schools (1870–80s), Paul Robin's Cempuis orphanage in France, Joan Puig i Elias's work in Catalonia, and José Sánchez Rosa's work in Andalusia.

Education was a major topic among rationalists and anarchists at the close of the 19th century. Ferrer had been a longtime radical for Spanish republicanism but moved towards anarchist circles during his time in Paris, where he read ravenously about education. He was captivated by Paul Robin's Prévost orphanage school in Cempuis, which tried to integrate the children's physical and intellectual capacities without coercion. Around 1900 Ferrer announced he would open a libertarian school based on that model. This intention became plausible when he inherited around a million francs from a French woman whom he had tutored and convinced of his ideas. His return to Spain in 1901 coincided with a period of national self-reflection, particularly regarding ecclesiastical national education, after losing the Spanish–American War.

The Escola Moderna opened on Barcelona's Carrer de les Corts with 30 students on September 8, 1901. This class was nearly two-thirds male and divided into three groups: primary, intermediate, and advanced. The school charged sliding scale tuition based on parental capacity to pay. School enrollment increased throughout its existence, from 70 at the end of the first year to 114 in 1904 and 126 in 1905. Spanish authorities closed the school in 1906.

Ferrer's pedagogy sought to strip dogma from education and instead help children direct their own powers. Ferrer's school eschewed punishments and rewards, which he felt incentivized deception over sincerity. Similarly, he did not adopt grades or exams, because he considered that their propensity to flatter, deflate, and torture were injurious. Ferrer prioritized practical knowledge over theory, and encouraged children to experience rather than read. Lessons entailed visits to local factories, museums, and parks where the objects of the lesson could be experienced firsthand. Pupils planned their own work and were trusted and free to attend as they pleased.