The Origins of the Fundación Estudio lie in the “Estudio” School created in 1940 by Jimena Menéndez-Pidal, in close collaboration with Carmen García del Diestro and Ángeles Gasset. Being aware of the role of education as a driver of social transformation in a country, their intention was to preserve and disseminate the philosophy of the Institución Libre de Enseñanza and the commitment to keep its educational model alive.
Fundación Estudio is a private, non-profit organisation whose the thinking is expressed in its Founding Charter, which details a pedagogic model based on plural coexistence, tolerance and solidarity, as well as the desire to enable this project to be maintained and improved in the future.
“(…) It is our desire for the FUNDACIÓN ESTUDIO to become a forum that incorporates various voices that both enrich and support it, making it possible for this pedagogic project, which began over half a century ago, to not only endure but to stay alive, even going beyond the educational needs of society. At present, these needs are fortunately very different to those of the 1940s and we believe that one of the tasks of the FUNDACIÓN ESTUDIO must be to connect and collaborate with any and all fields and levels of Teaching, supporting it in the areas deemed most useful. (…) we think that the FUNDACIÓN which we are founding today should contribute to the promotion of education as an increasingly ambitious social service and make the ESTUDIO institution continue to occupy the prestigious space which, as a specialist education option, it has earned within the vast field of Pedagogy (…)” Madrid, April 1994, Carmen García del Diestro, Ángeles Gasset.
The Fundación Estudio works hard to stay at the forefront of Education, to be an institution committed to pedagogic research, contributing to the expansion of the horizons of the teaching world and capable of going beyond the needs of Society. To do this, new voices are being incorporated into our educational project; teaching staff are being given solid and coherent training; we promote everything that means a contribution to the advanced education.
The institution is Supported by a Trust which has representatives from, among other disciplines, teaching and education, culture and art, and the business and communications worlds.
It is ideologically and economically independent but committed to all its teachers, to all the educators who are part of the “Estudio” Institution, to the parents and students who place their trust in us, and to all those for whom education training and innovation are the main keys to the future.
The mission we are on is detailed in the Founding Charter, which precisely defines the challenge that arises from the School’s responsibilities, becoming one more link in the innovative project that the members of the Institución Libre de Enseñanza began at the end of the 19th century. We must guarantee the ability to predict and respond to the continued evolution of our Society and assist in the search for excellence in our pedagogic project. Therefore we need to:
- know about our history and its context, learning from our experiences;
- seek answers to new commitments by dedicating resources to research;
- train teachers;
- communicate effectively with each other through various platforms;
- stimulate debate and reflection on matters of pedagogy.
To respond to our commitment to education, we will always be aware of the gaps that must be filled by taking on new educational projects.
To respond to our commitment to society, as we have done since our beginnings, we will continue with our scholarship programme that gets more ambitious every year.
