The manuals of didactic methodology in Spanish (1897-1980)

Abstract

INTRODUCTION. The study aims to fill a part of the current void on the conformation of an academic discipline that is as important in the field of Educational Sciences as that of the teaching approach; thus, the manuals of didactic methodology published in Spanish during the 20th century will be analysed in this article. METHOD. Firstly, an in-depth documentary work has been carried out, collecting the manuals and their systematisation, as a basis for the analysis of epistemological aspects that are indicative of the transformations that occurred in the configuration of the teaching approach. These indicators have been collected from the analysis of the information provided by the manuals themselves. Among those that have been taken into account, we have the following indicators: the denominations used in the titles and their relationship with the delimitation of didactic knowledge, the internal organisation of the contents and their value in the manual, and the analysis of the method’s subject area as the most relevant to observe the changes. RESULTS. The most important result is the establishment of a range of didactic manuals called Didactic Methodology, which in turn distinguishes two branches that are differentiated by the content that they present; one branch from manuals of General Methodology and another from manuals of a Pedagogical Teaching Approach. Both branches have some common methodological content, although much more developed in the manuals of the first branch and content of special methodology of Primary Education mainly in the manuals of the second branch. DISCUSSION. It opens an unprecedented path to the historical-educational and epistemological investigation of the discipline of the teaching approach that is added to the one that has been carried out in other academic disciplines of Educational Sciences for some time.