El digital file linked to Teacher Training Colleges It has become a key element in understanding how teachers have been trained in Spain throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. Thanks to digitization processes and the implementation open access From thousands of documents, it is now possible to reconstruct the history of the old Normal Schools, the evolution of the teaching profession and the educational, political and social context in which teachers worked.
This type of file brings together academic records, administrative documentation, official correspondence, minutes, inspection reports, purging files and personal fundsAmong many other materials. All of this allows researchers, students, and curious individuals to peek behind the scenes of the education system: how teacher training colleges were organized, what requirements were needed to become a teacher, how the centers were financed, and what impact events such as the Civil War, the dictatorship, or the educational reforms of the 20th century had.
The Digital Archive of the Teacher Training School of the University of La Rioja
One of the most representative projects is the Digital archive of the Teacher Training School of the University of La RiojaThis project focuses on rescuing and disseminating the historical documentary heritage related to teacher training in this region. Its main objective is... digitize and offer open access the old funds preserved in the university archive, allowing their online consultation without the physical limitations of paper.
So far, three fundamental document blocks have been digitized: the records of the School for Female Teachers (1860-1940), the records of the School for Male Teachers (1860-1940) and the correspondence of the Normal School for Teachers (1936-1940)These collections document the academic trajectory of generations of teachers, their time at the normal school, and the official communication between the center and the educational authorities.
Teachers' personal files include Registration data, grades, internships, qualifications, administrative incidents and, occasionally, disciplinary or professional informationThese are documents of enormous value for reconstructing teacher biographies, prosopographical studies, and analyses of the social composition of the teaching profession over time.
For its part, the series of correspondence from the Normal School for Teacher Training, dated between 1936 and 1940, offers a direct look at the most turbulent years of the 20th century in SpainIt contains communications relating to the functioning of the center during times of war and post-war, changes in regulations, reorganization of the teaching staff, purges and adaptations to the new political circumstances.
The digitization of the first two collections - the records of the School for Female and Male Teachers - It has received support from the Ministry of CultureThis demonstrates the institutional importance placed on the preservation and dissemination of these types of educational resources. Financial and technical support ensures long-term conservation and, at the same time, democratizes access to the documentation.
The historical collection of the Teacher Training College of Alicante (General Archive of the University of Alicante)
A particularly complete case is that of "Alicante Teacher Training School" fund, housed in the General Archive of the University of Alicante (AGUA). It is a collection described archivally according to international standards and constitutes a paradigmatic example of how a historical archive of a teacher training college is organized and made available to the public.
In the identification area, this background appears with the reference code ES WATER EMThis allows it to be located unambiguously within the archival system. Its official title is “Alicante Teacher Training School Collection,” it covers dates from 1844 to 1971, and it is described as a collection, that is, as a broad documentary unit encompassing all the documentation generated by the institution throughout that period.
The preserved volume amounts to 60 linear meters of paper documentationThis gives an idea of the density and continuity of the documentary series. This collection physically occupies specific shelves and storage areas in the archive, but its description and organization allow it to be consulted systematically even without being fully digitized.
Regarding the production context, the fund is linked to three successive institutions: the Andrés Manjón Normal School (Teachers) between 1844 and 1968, the San José de Calasanz Normal School (Teachers) between 1859 and 1968 and the Concepción Arenal Normal School between 1968 and 1971Each of these names reflects a different stage in the organization of teacher training in the province of Alicante.
The fund's institutional history begins with the application of the Order of the Provisional Regency of 1840This legislation spurred the creation of teacher training colleges in the Spanish provinces. Thanks to this law, the Teacher Training College for Male Teachers was established in 1844 at the Santo Domingo College in Orihuela, moving to the city of Alicante in 1858. A year later, in 1859, the Teacher Training College for Female Teachers was created, which operated almost as an independent institution until the late 1960s.
In 1968, in line with the transformations of the educational system, both schools merged to form the Concepción Arenal Normal Schoolintegrating the training of teachers into a single institution. Finally, in 1971, the Normal School was transformed into the University School of Teacher Training for Basic General Education, in line with the educational reform that shaped the EGB (General Basic Education).
The archival history of the collection is, in itself, a history of resistance of documents to transfers and poor conservation conditionsThroughout its existence, the records of the Teacher Training Schools of Alicante suffered constant changes of location and inadequate facilities, with real risks of loss and deterioration.
A key part of this fund's survival to the present day is due to the work of specific individuals. The figure of [name missing] stands out. Juan Macho Moreno, director of the Normal School for Teachers between 1889 and 1912, which took steps to organize, preserve and give continuity to the documentation at a time when the historical value of these papers was not yet fully recognized.
Almost a century later, it was the Library staff who was in charge of organizing and inventorying most of the historical collection, which remained stored there until its transfer to the General Archive in 2007. The most recent documentation, generated in the last years of operation of the School, was still located in the Secretariat of the Faculty of Education and was also incorporated into the General Archive, thus unifying the entire collection.
Since then, the General Archive has carried out exhaustive work review, physical installation and description of all documents, integrating the information into the document catalog managed by a specific archiving software program. The entry mechanism was the transfer from the Faculty's premises, following the usual procedures for managing historical university collections.
In terms of content and structure, this collection brings together the documentation generated by the Teacher Training School from its origins in the 19th century until its transformation into a university center in 1971. Although there are gaps and interruptions in some documentary seriesEspecially with regard to the Normal School for Teachers, the collection remains extraordinarily rich.
Among the main types of documents are the Founding documentation of the Teacher Training Schoolalong with all the procedures and arrangements that allowed its implementation. Financial documentation is also preserved, including budgets, expense reports, and account books from both schools, which allow for an analysis of the center's funding, investments, and economic priorities.
In addition to this, there is internal documentation, such as correspondence, minutes books of the Faculty Council, records of staff appointments and other management documents, which reveal the daily life of the institution, the decisions of the faculty, appointments of teaching and administrative staff, as well as conflicts, reforms and organizational changes.
Academic documentation is especially relevant: registrations, academic records, grade reports, lists of professors, subjects and textbooksThis section allows for the reconstruction of study plans, curricular changes, evaluation systems, student profiles, and the evolution of the training content received by future teachers.
Another important set is the documentation relating to entrance exams and courses for entry into the National Teaching Professionwhere records of competitive examinations, exercises, evaluation criteria, and resolutions are kept. This offers a very valuable perspective on the selection requirements, the level of rigor, and the competitiveness of access to the teaching profession at different times.
From an archival point of view, the collection has been considered permanent conservationIn other words, no documentation is planned to be eliminated, and in fact, no significant new acquisitions are expected either. Its organization is based on the document classification scheme developed in 1990, which guarantees a logical structure of series and subseries that facilitates its consultation and understanding.
The access conditions are, in general, free access for the publicwith the exception of those documents that contain personal data and whose consultation is restricted if 50 years have not passed since the date of the document, in application of the regulations on data protection and access to information.
Reproduction of the documents is authorized with study and research purposesThis allows for obtaining copies for academic work, theses, publications, or historical research. The predominant language of the documentation is Spanish, and no technical details are recorded, beyond the fact that they are paper materials which, in some cases, may require some care due to their age or state of preservation.
The fund description has been incorporated into document catalog of the file management systemThis facilitates searching by call number, producer, dates, content, or document type. The ISAD(G) standards and the Multilevel Description Manual of the Regional Government of Castile and León (2000) were followed in preparing this description. The description was completed in July 2008, at which time the entire collection was documented in a standardized manner.
Teacher Training Colleges as the origin of numerous university funds
The importance of Normal Schools is not limited to a specific case; many universities today retain documentary collections from the former University Teacher Training Schoolswhich in turn have their origins in the 19th-century Normal Schools. A significant example is the University Archive of Castilla-La Mancha (UCLM).
This archive contains the records of the Teacher Training Schools of Albacete, Ciudad Real, Cuenca and Toledo, which for years depended on universities such as the University of Murcia, the Complutense University of Madrid or the Autonomous University of Madrid, until in 1985 the University of Castilla-La Mancha was created and they were incorporated into its university district.
The Normal Schools for Teacher Training, since their creation in the 19th century, offered the only higher education studies available in a large part of the territory of Castilla-La ManchaIn regions without their own university until as late as 1985, these centers played the role of higher education institutions, so their archive is an essential source for studying the history of higher education in the area.
Aware of the value of this heritage, the UCLM has developed projects to digital dissemination and virtual exhibitionsOne example is the online exhibition dedicated to the Teacher Training Colleges of Castilla-La Mancha (1850-1985), which presents a selection of digitized documents that illustrate the evolution of these centers, academic life, student and teacher profiles, as well as administrative and regulatory changes.
These online resources allow any user to consult original documents without having to physically travel to the archive. At the same time, they help to to highlight the historical role of the Normal Schools It is important to emphasize its relevance in building the university identity of territories that lacked a university until recently.
The role of the Central Archive of the Ministry of Education and other state funds
Beyond university archives, the Spanish education system has essential funds held in the Central Archive of the Ministry of EducationLocated in the General Administration Archive (AGA) building in Alcalá de Henares, this archive brings together state-level documentation affecting all stages and levels of education, and which, in many cases, intersects with the history of Teacher Training Colleges.
Its holdings include a repertoire of more than 14.000 documents (approximately 204.000 digital images) These records were generated, for example, within the context of the “Democratic Memory” project. In the most recent phase of this project, 99 files of teachers belonging to the archives of the Provincial Delegation of the former Ministry of Education have been digitized. Although they represent only a small part of the entire series of personal files from this Delegation—which, moreover, arrived incomplete, only up to the letter “M”—they constitute a very significant step towards the comprehensive digitization of this type of document.
The Central Archive also holds a very large collection of series related to the professional career of teaching and non-teaching staffas well as with the processes of access, vetting, and control exercised over the teaching staff throughout the 20th century. These series are fundamental to understanding the impact of political changes on the education system.
Among the content that can be consulted, the following stand out: Academic and professional qualifications (1969-2000), the collection of theses defended between 1960 and 1988, the documentation relating to payrolls and social security of the staff of popular libraries (1931-1972) and the files of the staff of Fine Arts (1938-1989), both in relation to the management of personnel and to competitive examinations and competitions (1955-1986).
One of the most sensitive and historically valuable blocks are the purging and review files of teaching staff of Normal Schools (1939-1975), of non-teaching staff in the same period, as well as the government files opened on primary school teachers between 1957 and 1971. These documents allow for a detailed analysis of the political and professional repression suffered by teachers during and after the Civil War and during the Franco dictatorship.
The archive also contains personal files of teaching staff Special Education (1962-1974) and Primary Education (1933-1994)as well as teacher records, including specific records of purged teachers. This type of documentation is invaluable for reconstructing professional trajectories, studying the impact of repressive policies, and reviewing the memories of the victims of the purges.
Alongside these series, there are also purging and review files of high school teachers, university professors (with documentation from the end of the 19th century until 1986), disciplinary files of university professors and students (1939-1984) and very extensive series of competitive examinations and competitions for Primary Education (1960-1993), Vocational Education (1954-1994), Technical and Special Education (1957-1994) and University Education (1906-1985).
The Archive also preserves institutional collections such as the Cultural Extension Commission (1948-1972), which includes the memoirs of the educational missions of the Franco regime between 1948 and 1970; the documentation of the Technical Inspection of Education (1903-1991), which covers the supervision of primary, secondary and professional education; the General Secretariat of the National Council of Education (1940-1986); and the archive of the Instituto Escuela de Madrid (1918-2002), a key center for understanding the pedagogical innovations of the first third of the twentieth century and their subsequent evolution.
All these funds are accessible through the Citizen services of the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training, with specific contact details (address, telephone and email of the central archive) and a website explaining the consultation conditions, available funds and existing online resources.
Inspection, precariousness and demands: the 1932 visit to the Ministry Archive
The history of educational archives is told not only through the documents they preserve, but also through accounts of their material conditions. A striking example is the inspection carried out in 1932 at the Archive of the Ministry of Public Instruction and Fine Arts, the direct predecessor of the current Ministry of Education.
In compliance with an order from the General Directorate of Fine Arts dated February 19, 1932, the Inspector General of Archives was charged, Miguel Gómez del Campillo, that he visited the ministerial archive, which at that time was located at 34 Alcalá Street, after having been linked to the Archive of the Ministry of Public Works at Paseo de Atocha 1.
Two key documents from this visit have been preserved: the Inspection report and the report that Gómez del Campillo submitted to the Directorate of Fine Arts. The minutes describe the course of the visit, record the complaints and requests of the head of the archive, Julio Iglesias, and include the inspector's own comments on the deplorable state of the service.
The inspection confirmed that the archive had not been completely moved: about 800 files and 2.000 books They had been left behind in the Ministry of Public Works' archives. Furthermore, it was emphasized that the new premises designated for the archives—located in the basements—were in appalling condition: lack of space, poor lighting, inadequate ventilation, no proper heating, and no doors, so that the archives literally "opened onto the street."
The consequences of this precarious situation were multiple: not only was the preservation of documents made more difficult, but it also It was impossible to stay there working for several hours.The personnel offices had to be set up in the office of José Garzón, head of Section 18 of the Ministry, which generated conflicts and a lack of privacy between the different teams that shared the same room.
In his memoir, dated March 4, 1932, Gómez del Campillo harshly criticizes the social perception of archives and their workers. He points out that there is a kind of “general belief that the premises designated for Archives should be the worst of the public buildings”The room serves neither as a waiting room for doormen nor as a storage area for old junk. He also denounces the fact that archivists are considered "second-class" professionals, both in terms of pay and working conditions and personal respect.
After analyzing the situation, the inspector submits a series of specific requests to his superiors: Complete the transfer of the archive, execute the already granted credit of 15.340 pesetas to expand and properly close the premises, and relocate the staff to separate and suitable spaces. and to temporarily increase staffing with a technician while the reorganization process was underway. This episode illustrates the extent to which the preservation of educational collections has depended for decades on the demands of professionals aware of the value of archives.
Board-run schools and teacher appointment files
Another of the documentary sets linked to the field of teaching that are being described in the state archives is the series of “Proposals for the appointment of teachers in boarding schools and preparatory schools for admission to secondary education centers, vocational training and special education”, with dates between 1940 and 1980. This series was generated by the School Provision Section of the Ministry of National Education.
The Patronato Schools emerged as private initiatives, both religious and secularThese schools were founded by companies, foundations, religious orders, or individuals who wanted to offer educational services in areas where the state's reach was insufficient. To operate, these schools sought state recognition and regulation, which in many cases resulted in full or partial funding.
Over time, many of these patronage schools evolved into public, private or subsidized centers which are still active today (a well-known example being the La Salle network of schools). The preserved records document the process by which the boards of trustees proposed the appointment of teachers for these schools to the Ministry.
Studying these funds allows us to trace the origin of schools located in geographically isolated areas or areas with limited infrastructureThese projects were sustained thanks to the involvement of agricultural, mining, and industrial companies, religious entities, charitable individuals, and local governments. Among the promoters were names such as Carretero y Timoner SA “CATISA” in Menorca, the agricultural company of the El Almendral estate in Oliva de Plasencia, the Revilla-Gigedo Foundation in Gijón, the Provincial Council of Lugo, the Cortijo Villalba and El Ramio farms in Cantillana, and the Diocesan Board of Primary Education of the Archdiocese of Burgos, among many others.
Some files include the order for the creation of the board of trustees or the school itselfHowever, it is more common to find the proposal for the appointment of the teacher accompanied by the supporting documentation: service records, letters of introduction, certificates of studies, reports and, finally, the appointment resolution with the express indication of the school and the destination location.
These initiatives also gave rise to Preparatory schools for admission to Secondary Education Institutes, Music Conservatories and Schools of Arts and CraftsAmong the centers present in the documentation are the School of Arts and Artistic Crafts of Jerez de la Frontera, the Manuel de Falla Conservatory of Music of Cádiz or the Ramiro de Maeztu National Institute of Secondary Education of Vitoria, among others.
The joint analysis of these files provides a very rich view of role played by organized civil society in the expansion of education Throughout the 20th century, complementing the actions of the State and contributing to bringing education to rural, industrial or peripheral areas that would otherwise have been neglected.
Looking at all these collections in perspective—normal schools, boarding schools, ministerial archives, provincial delegations, universities—it becomes clear how the digital archive of the teacher training college It is not a single website or isolated repository, but a complex network of digitization projects, archival descriptions, and online resources that are gradually making a crucial part of Spain's educational history accessible to everyone. Thanks to this, studying the history of teachers, reviewing educational policies, or reconstructing professional careers is now much more accessible, provided one knows where to access these archives and respects their rules of access and use.
