Los juegos decrolyanos matemáticos y los catálogos de material escolar en España (1920-1936)

Abstract: Educational games are characteristic of the Decroly method. In fact, Decroly’s first book for educators (1914) is dedicated to them. However, the generality of publications on this method do not pay attention to them: they are cited, but their use is not described. However, Decroly’s games were influencing the teaching of mathematics in the first educational levels. This work aims to identify and characterise Decroly’s games with mathematical content and to study a channel for their diffusion: the catalogues of school supplies published in Spain between 1920 and 1936. The collection at the Centre for Studies on Educational Memory (CEME) of the University of Murcia was used, and eleven catalogues of school material were analysed. In five of these catalogues Decroly’s games are offered, all of them in the republican period (1931–1936). The commercial house that offered these games was studied. The catalogues offered games developed by different authors, making possible to characterise Decrolyan games: the use of elements that the child finds in his environment and the relationship with topics specific to the centres of interest are specific aspects of Decroly’s games and show respect for the Decroly school motto, “the school for life, through life ”