The de La Salle Brothers and their Linkage to Colombian Educational Policies in the 20th Century

Abstract

The Congregation of the Brothers of the Christian Schools, better known as Hermanos de la Salle, have made great contributions to education in Colombia. This Community arrived in Colombia in 1891, a time known in the history of Colombia as the period of Regeneration. That period required the promotion of new educational policies in accordance with the system of government that had begun towards the year 1886 and eagerly sought the implementation of educational policies in accordance with the new constitution where new educational values ​​were fostered and centered on the Catholic religion. Thus, the Brothers de la Salle initially founded some schools in the city of Bogotá, among which are known: the Apostolic School, the Colegio de San Bernardo and the Novitiate of Chapinero. By 1896 the De La Salle Institute was founded in the Egypt district of the same city.The penetration of the Lasallian Educational Project obeyed the interest of that community to promote practical teachings that the Colombian state required at that time. The educational system of the Brothers of La Salle sought to develop a new moralizing education, conceived from a pragmatic vision with a strong confessional emphasis, that is, from the educative action of a Catholic nature, exerted from modern teachings. Likewise, it is important to highlight the contribution that this community made in the pedagogical Congress of 1917 where notable research works were exhibited for the improvement of education in Colombia.