To read this content please select one of the options below:

Childhood, disability and vocational training in Franco's Spain during the 1950s and early 1960s

Mercedes Del Cura (Faculty of Medicine-IDINE, History of Science Area-RDI Unit Associated to CSIC, University of Castilla-La Mancha, Albacete, Spain)
José Martínez-Pérez (Faculty of Medicine-IDINE, History of Science Area-RDI Unit Associated to CSIC, University of Castilla-La Mancha, Albacete, Spain)

History of Education Review

ISSN: 0819-8691

Article publication date: 19 May 2021

Issue publication date: 5 October 2021

126

Abstract

Purpose

This paper analyses the strategies designed by Franco´s dictatorship to address the “problem” of children with physical disabilities, focusing on the relevance given to vocational training.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper draws mainly on official documents, reports from international organisations, and Spanish experts' papers.

Findings

Francoism turned labour into one of the key pillars of its national project and included vocational training in the different stages of school life. From the mid-1950s, vocational training also became a key factor for the dictatorship's strategy towards disability. Following the recommendations issued by international agencies, Francoism began to adopt different measures towards the rehabilitation of children with disabilities. One of them was the creation, in 1959, of a special unit for adolescents within the National Institute for the Rehabilitation of Invalids. In addition to medical treatment, this unit provided children with education and vocational training.

Originality/value

The value of this paper lies in the fact that the topic it analyses has been little studied. Until now no attention has been given to the special unit for adolescents, despite it being a very interesting example of the medical model of disability and its contradictions. During their stay at the unit children were promised greater autonomy and independence, but their lives also became medicalised and they were forced to collaborate with experts.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

This research has been funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy of Competitiveness. Project: MINECO/FEDER: HAR2015-64150-C2-2-P.

Citation

Del Cura, M. and Martínez-Pérez, J. (2021), "Childhood, disability and vocational training in Franco's Spain during the 1950s and early 1960s", History of Education Review, Vol. 50 No. 2, pp. 241-257. https://doi.org/10.1108/HER-07-2020-0041

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2021, Emerald Publishing Limited

Related articles