La Institución Libre de Enseñanza y la educación histórica: Rafael Ballester y la renovación historiográfica y didáctica españolas de inicios del siglo XX

Abstract

Without doubt, the most outstanding professional and intellectual side in the different activities carried out by Bachiller professor Rafael Ballester in the first three decades in the 20th century is that of being author of school handbooks, being some worldwide successful. He is an obvious indicator of the worries, determination and effort of the Institución Libre de Enseñanza to improve history and geography teaching in Spain. His other facets, as a historian of education, as a researcher of scientific methodology and didactics of teaching and as a pioneer in studies of historic historiography, pale beside the strength of his contributions as successful author of school handbooks of history and geography.