Agenda UV

The first decades of the 20th century were years of significant changes in the practice and conception of the science teaching. Multiple collectives and institutions contributed to that pedagogical renewal. One of those collectives was the teachers of the Normal Schools: male teachers of male teachers and female teachers of female teachers. In those classrooms, several generations of teachers were trained and made the renewing didactic discourse as their own. Some of the questions addressed were the pedagogic usages of the history in the teaching of science, the importance of the observation of nature and the building of devices by students or the experimentation of science in the classroom. All of these are still questions of interest for the teaching approach of science. 

The exposition Modesto Bargalló (1894-1981): Mestre de Mestres (Modesto Bargalló (1894-1981): Teacher of Teachers) addresses these topics through the biography of a prominent main character in the pedagogical renewal of the first decades of the 20th century: Modesto Bargalló (Sabadell, 1894- Mexico, 1981).  His biography shows his pedagogical and scientific education, his educational work as teacher of science teachers, his translations of scientific works, his active role in the creation of several institutions of expression for the teachers at his time, and his prolific printed production of manuals and books for teachers. Besides, his biography is also a great tool which invites to think about the teaching of science from a historical perspective.

In the same way, his exile to Mexico in 1939 as a consequence of the Spanish Civil War and his recognised work as a chemistry historian in Mexico allow to address the question of the republican exile, which in 2019 celebrates its 80 anniversary, from the point of view of a not always well considered collective in the historic narrative: the Normal School teachers.

The exposition Modesto Bargalló (1894-1981): Mestre de Mestres (Modesto Bargalló (1894-1981): Teacher of Teachers) will be open in Palau Cerveró, in the López Piñero Institute of the University of Valencia, up until 28 June. The exposition is commissioned by Luis Moreno Martínez, who started his investigation about professor Bargalló during his studies in the History of Science and Scientific Communication Master’s degree (UA, UV, UMH) where he was awarded with the Catalan History Society and the Technique to the Master's Degree Final Project awards. That investigation continued in the schedule of the Historic and Social Studies about Science Doctorate (UA, UV, UMH) and as a part of a scholarship of the Juanelo Turriano Foundation for the Doctoral Thesis in History of the Science and Technology. Through the original works and the transcripts of some of the main works published by Bargalló in Spain and Mexico, the visitor will be able to travel to the science classrooms of the beginning of the 20th century to think critically in the scientific education of the 21st century.