The education system in boarding schools for Spanish children in the Soviet Union. Towards a history of pedagogical ideologemes

Abstract

This article examines some pedagogical ideologemes that defned the education and training of Spanish children evacuated to the Soviet Union during the Spanish civil war (1937—1939), through the use of conceptual history. My main intention is to analyze some concepts from discourse of Spanish ideologists, Spanish children themselves and their Soviet educators. The initial section details the semantics of the Spanish concept of ‘useful person' (hombre de provecho / hombre útil) which is frequently used by the Spanish alumni. It cannot be properly understood without some knowledge of the Soviet ideological context, so the second half of the article focuses on the Soviet idea of ‘being useful to the Motherland'. The study reveals the hybrid nature of ‘moral' and ideological education of Spanish children in the Soviet Union.