The History of Education through Hispanic–Brazilian Dialogue

Interview with Agustín Escolano Benito

Abstract

The dialogue with Agustín Benito Escolano began in the first decade of the 2000s through readings undertaken at different stages of our academic education. Over time, this academic interaction gradually expanded: first through email exchanges with the researcher, then through additional telephone conversations, until we crossed the Atlantic to carry out research stays at the Centro Internacional de la Cultura Escolar (CEINCE), located in the historic and welcoming town of Berlanga de Duero, Spain. In 2018, Vania Grim Thies experienced this academic journey. In 2025, with her support, João Paulo Gama was likewise able to conduct research and deepen his learning during a residency in a space that radiates historical-educational knowledge: CEINCE. Since then, the exchanges have gained greater consistency, and the desire to systematize these intellectual relationships continued to grow. At the 30th ASPHE Meeting in 2025, the idea emerged to conduct the present interview, carried out by both Brazilian researchers. The interview was organized via email between December 2024 and January 2025. Through successive exchanges–always guided by respect for the meticulous scholarship of the Spanish historian–we arrived at this interview, in which Agustín Escolano Benito addresses the beginnings of his research, his most recent work, the concept of educational heritage, the relations established between Spain and Brazil in the early decades of the twenty-first century through CEINCE, and an invitation to continue strengthening dialogue among Brazil, Spain, and other European countries.