About the Play "Historia de una Maestra"

😮 What is this? Why is the AU Spain Team writing a second entry this week? Here comes the explanation: Some of us were lucky enough to attend a play last Tuesday: Historia de una maestra. For some students, the level of Spanish was (for the moment 😊) too difficult, for others it was only a bit of a challenge, and for several it was just perfect. In any case, it was an incredible sensory and cultural experience.

However, the historical context was probably difficult for everyone. In addition, those students who attend Paco's class will be able to talk about it in class, but others will not have that opportunity. Hence the idea of ​​writing this short text.

Just think of a Spain at the beginning of the 20th century shaken by many decades of political, economic, and social difficulties, in which some people saw the education as the only way to change society from its roots. The teacher "we met" yesterday is a good example of this. On Netflix, you can watch the award-winning documentary The Teachers of the Republic (in Spanish, with English subtitles), which introduces us the profile of these brave women.

Just in case you don't have Netflix, I recommend you watch this other documentary on YouTube (also with English subtitles): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYmfcvXqUBM This one is not only about the women teachers, but about some men and women who participated in the so-called "Pedagogical Missions" (a kind of itinerant schools promoted by the government of the Republic that tried to reach the most remote towns and the most helpless people in the Spanish geography). It is truly inspiring to see what a group of dreamers managed to do for that superstitious Spain without access to culture.

You can also see something related to this topic in the film La lengua de las mariposas (this time it is a fictional film, not a documentary, but I can only offer it to you with Spanish subtitles, I am sorry): https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PkFtwvNUNC3QemSGJ8xfrS7s-UzYweQj/view?usp=share_link

Please, take a moment to check these materials, it will help you better understand these crazy Spaniards 😊. And if you want to learn more about the author of the book on which the play is based, you can go to the English Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josefina_Aldecoa Or even read her book, if you dare!