1) THREAD. I'm so psyched to finally have a copy of Anarchist Education and the Modern School: A Francisco Ferrer Reader in my hands! But who the hell was Francisco Ferrer? @PMPressOrg
2) Francisco Ferrer was the founder of the co-educational, anti-authoritarian, rationalist school La Escuela Moderna. It opened in Barcelona in 1901.
3) In his youth, Ferrer was a revolutionary republican who worked with Manuel Ruiz Zorrilla to foment military insurrection against the Spanish crown. All of their efforts failed and Ferrer fled from Spain to France in 1885.
4) In France, Ferrer became disillusioned with republicanism after witnessing the French Third Republic firsthand. He moved toward anarchism in the midst of a revival of anti-authoritarian unionism in the form of revolutionary syndicalism.
5) He also taught Spanish classes. One of his students, Ernestine Meunier, left Ferrer a significant inheritance in her will for the opening of a rationalist school in Spain. When she died, Ferrer opened La Escuela Moderna in 1901.
6) In 1906 the school was shut down when Ferrer was accused of being an accomplice to Mateo Morral who bombed a royal procession on Calle Mayor in Madrid on May 31, 1906.
7) Yet, Ferrer was acquitted in 1907 and went into exile in France where he wrote the book "La Escuela Moderna" which explained his radical pedagogical philosophy against grades, rewards and punishments, and focused on rational, scientific education and student driven learning
8) Ferrer was arrested again in 1909 for his alleged role as 'mastermind' of the Tragic Week revolt in Barcelona against conscription for a colonial war in Morocco. It involved a general strike, popular insurrection, + the burning and looting of churches and convents.
9) Despite a complete lack of evidence, Ferrer was convicted and executed on Oct. 13, 1909. His radical pedagogical vision was so dangerous to the church and monarchy that he had to be eliminated.
10) Ferrer's execution sparked an international wave of protests, riots, and general strikes. Over the coming decades it also sparked the creation of the Modern School Movement as Ferrerian schools were founded around the world.
11) If this sounds interesting, check out Anarchist Education and the Modern School: A Francisco Ferrer Reader which I co-edited with Robert Haworth on @PMPressOrg. It has a wide variety of Ferrer's writings on education insurrection general strike + more secure.pmpress.org/index.php?l=pr…
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