Encounters and Divergences in Women's Education at the Normal School in Cartagena and Manizales (1903-1930)

Abstract

Objective: This research article provides a comparative analysis of the implementation of the 1903 Public Instruction Law in the Normal Schools for Women in Cartagena and Manizales during the first third of the 20th century. The analysis focuses on the relationship between three key areas: social goals, educational regimes, and derived educational content.

Originality: This study contributes to the understanding of how educational norms were contextualized within two institutions, influenced by the economic and social conditions of the time.

Method: The study employs an interdisciplinary methodological approach, combining comparative education—a research methodology in the social sciences that addresses educational topics and issues—with the method of comparative history, which examines analogous historical realities from a historicist perspective. This approach allows for a nuanced understanding of the contextual differences that influenced the implementation of national educational policies.

Information Collection Strategies: Data were collected by reviewing both primary and secondary sources in digitized and physical formats at libraries and institutional repositories. Primary sources encompass laws, decrees, gazettes, weekly publications, public instruction journals, and other historical documents from the period under study. Secondary sources include research works on the education of female Normal School teachers during the conservative period.

Conclusions: The divergent valuation of women's education in Cartagena and Manizales reflects the strong economic support from the elite in Manizales, who viewed women as essential to the social and cultural development of the city. In contrast, the economic difficulties faced by Cartagena hindered its ability to provide financial support, thereby limiting the reach of educational policies.