Tradition and modernity of the De La Salle Schools: The case of the Basque Country in Franco's Spain (1937 - 1975)

The Congregation of the Brothers of Christian Schools (the De La Salle Brothers) has grown since its arrival in Spain in 1878, and today it is the second most important Congregation - in terms of the number of students and schools - in the private school sector in Spain. This article aims to present, first, the educational contributions of De La Salle, which are based upon discipline, Catholic schooling and popular education. This pedagogical approach became the foundation of traditional education, and was a success in their schools and a model for other institutions. Second, our study is focused on the situation of the De La Salle schools in the Basque Country during the Franco regime. The case of the Basque Country is very important, because it showed a significant increase in centres for vocational training and secondary education. The paper concludes that the De La Salle schools make up a Catholic school model adapted to the educational and social reality of the Basque Country and that, during the Franco regime, the model went through a period which balanced tradition and modernity regarding educational provision.