Autodidacticism and reading: a Mistralian counterpedagogy (1928-1954)

Authors

  • Adrián Baeza Araya Universidad de Chile

Abstract

This paper focuses on Gabriela Mistral’s after 1925 thought pedagogic. It is the first time she comes back to Chile from abroad. She then withdraws from teaching and stays in the country until she starts her life as a diplomat. Henceforth, a progressive distance and scepticism from the school as an educational institution starts to develop. She explores two possible answers to this problem. On the one hand, she queries the possibility of unschooling the didactic matrix of the school. On the other, she reflects on the education that autodidacticism provides the non-schooled. For this purpose, this paper takes into consideration the latter approach and the way that it relates to Mistral’s view of the reading process as formation of a reader-as-creator.

Keywords:

Mistral, pedagogy, school, autodidact, reading