NATION STATE AND SECONDARY SCHOOL IN ARGENTINA: A LOOK THROUGH THE NATIONAL SCHOOL PLAN OF STUDY

Abstract This article focuses on the origins of secondary school in Argentina. In particular, it inquires on the possible relations between the construction of educational institutions destined to the formation of political elites and the constitution of the nation-state. In Argentina, the creation of free and compulsory elementary education was preceded by the development of secondary education through the invention of the Colegio Nacional (National School). These schools were created during the political unification of the national territory after the internal post-independence wars. Note the name given to these institutions: National School. How did the nation and the state appear in the organization of national schools? We will focus on this question through the analysis of student’s biographies, plans of study and rectors’ reports in the period of the first configuration of the Colegio Nacional between 1863 and 1890.