Vocational Training, La Salle Schools and the Modernization Process (Gipuzkoa, First Third of the 20th Century)

Abstract

One of the keys to understanding the evolution of vocational training in Gipuzkoa, within the process of modernization that this province experienced in the first third of the 20th century, was the reduced state intervention in this level of education, which made the emergence of vocational training centres for non-state initiatives possible. In this context, the arrival of the De La Salle Brothers in 1904, due to their expulsion from France, found favourable conditions in this province in order to develop a network of schools dedicated to vocational training. The requirement of certain social agents, as well as the educational offer of La Salle, enabled its continuance and fulfilled its role as trainer of an suitable workforce for the social and economic needs of the population in Gipuzkoa. Therefore, we have chosen two centres located in San Sebastian, which can explain this situation: San Bernardo and Los Angeles, with clearly differentiated objectives.