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The Positivist Philosophy in Mexican Education, 1867-1873

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 December 2015

Albert J. Delmez
Albert J. Delmez*
Affiliation:
Stephens College, Columbia, Missouri
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Extract

Positivism in educational thought in 1867 was the rational expression of a liberating philosophy which had been operating upon the Mexican scene from the turn of the century. Under the aegis of liberalism educational theory had moved slowly forward, but application had lagged far behind. This situation was not an unnatural consequence of the chaotic conditions which obtained after the achievement of independence. Independence had brought political freedom, but the masses, economically and culturally, had gained little.

As early as 1823 educators had clamored for popular education, and although public education was given some consideration during succeeding administrations, hopes of realizing changes in education were lost within the maelstrom of social and political intrigues. The control of education was thus left in the hands of individuals, many of whom were not fit to be teachers, or to the Church, whose attention to education was greatly lessened by the growing Church-State question.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Americas , Volume 6 , Issue 1 , July 1949 , pp. 32 - 44
Copyright
Copyright © Academy of American Franciscan History 1949

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References

1 This issue was debated by the drafters of the Constitution of 1824, resulting in the inclusion of minor considerations to education in the first Constitution of the Republic. Guzmán, Martín Luis, Escuelas Laicas (Mexico, 1948), 14-24.Google Scholar In 1825, the first President of the Republic, General Victoria, inserted the following in his government’s report: “El Poder Ejecutivo no ha perdido ni puede perder de vista la moral y la ilustración, y por lo que a ésta hace, una Junta está actualmente entendiendo en formar un proyecto grandioso de enseñanza pública. …” Puig Casauranc, La Educación Pública en México a través de los Mensajes Presidenciales desde la Consumación de la Independencia hasta Nuestros Días (Mexico, 1926), 3.

2 Under the leadership of Gómez Farias legislation was passed in 1833 for the encouragement of primary and normal schools, but Santa Anna nullified this legislation the next year. Priestly, Herbert, The Mexican Nation (N. Y., Macmillan, 1923), 270-271.Google Scholar

3 The qualifications of private school teachers in early nineteenth century are described in part in documents compiled by Orozco, Luis Chávez, La Educación en la Ciudad de Mexico en el Siglo XVIII (Mexico, 1936), 23-24.Google Scholar

4 A school law, passed in 1833, suppressed the Pontifical University of Mexico, which had become weighed down by Guzman, scholasticism., op. cit., 26-27.Google Scholar

5 Dr. Mora may properly be considered the precursor of positivism in Mexico. His important articles on education, dating as early as 1824, are included in Guzman, op. cit., 41-67.

6 ,Mares, José Fuentes, “Prólogo,” in-Gabino Barreda, Estudios (Mexico, 1941), ix.Google Scholar

7 Ibid., x.

8 Zea, Leopoldo, El Positivismo en México (Mexico, 1943), 68.Google Scholar

9 Ibid., 68-69.

10 Barreda, Gabino, “Oración Cívica,” in Estudios, 71-78.Google Scholar

11 Ibid., 91.

12 Barreda, Gabino, “De la Educación Moral,” in Estudios, 113.Google Scholar

13 “Principios Mínimos del Positivism,” in Luis Guzmán, op. cit., 119-120.

14 Barreda obviously inclines toward faculty psychology.

15 Barreda, Gabino, “De la Educación Moral,” 119-120.Google Scholar

16 Barreda, Gabino, “Oración Cívica,” 84-85.Google Scholar

17 Ibid., 109.

18 Mares, José Fuentes, “Prólogo,” xii.Google Scholar

19 Casauranc, Puig, La Educación Pública en México a trcevés de los Mensajes Presidenciales, 12.Google Scholar

20 Manuel Dublán y Lozano, José María, Legislación Mejicana (Mexico, 1876-1890, 19 vols.), X, 193-194.Google Scholar

21 Bustamente, José, “La Ley de Instrucción Pública,” Diario Oficial, January 20, 1868.Google Scholar

22 Ibid.

23 Ibid.

24 Ibid.

25 Lozano, Dublán y, op. cit., X,591-601.Google Scholar

26 Barreda, Gabino, “Carta dirigida al C. Mariano Riva Palacio,” in Estudios, 46.Google Scholar

27 Ibid., 5-7.

28 Ibid., 17.

29 Ibid., 20-21.

30 Ibid., 11.

31 Ibid., 11-12.

32 Ibid., 8.

33 Zea, Leopoldo, El Positivism en Mexico, 38.Google Scholar

34 Mares, José Fuentes, “Prólogo.”Google Scholar

35 Barreda, Gabino, “Mahoma y Robespierre,” in Estudios, 57.Google Scholar

36 Mares, José Fuentes, “Prólogo,” xxiii.Google Scholar

37 Ibid., xxiv.