Enriqueta Compte y Riqué

Enriqueta Compte y Riqué (31 December 1866 – 18 October 1949) was a Spanish-born Uruguayan teacher. She was the founder of the first kindergarten in South America in 1892, and famous for having contributed decisively to preschool teaching in Uruguay and Latin America.[1]

Enriqueta Compte y Riqué
Enriqueta Compte in 1920
Born(1866-12-31)31 December 1866
Barcelona, Spain
Died18 October 1949(1949-10-18) (aged 82)
Montevideo, Uruguay
NationalitySpanish and Uruguayan
Occupation(s)Professor, educational theorist
Known forFounding the first kindergarten in South America

Biography

The daughter of Catalan parents, Enriqueta Compte y Riqué emigrated to Uruguay with her family while still a child. In spite of her nearsightedness, Compte managed to overcome her difficulties and dedicated herself to studying teaching. She graduated at 19 as a first grade teacher, and in 1886 as a superior teacher. In 1887 she was appointed deputy director of the Normal Institute for Young Women, and during that same year she traveled to Europe on an official mission for the government of Máximo Tajes, to specialize in preschool education. She was entrusted to internalize the teachings of Friedrich Fröbel, which is why she toured Belgium, Germany, Holland, France and Switzerland.[2] She returned from this trip in September 1890. As a result of the trip, she wrote a report in which she expressed "the hope of realizing in the Republic, the creation of these establishments, approaching the ideal of Fröbel, and incorporating them into the public organization of Primary Instruction."[3]

Compte made numerous publications in magazines and specialized books for children between three and six years of age. With psychological and pedagogical methods, her work was inclined to study children respecting their individuality and personal learning capacity.

She was also accepted into several associations whose objectives were women's rights, the fight against tuberculosis, such as the Uruguayan League Against Tuberculosis, and against alcoholism and trafficking in women.[4]

Her work was a precursor of secular education, based on social equality and the overcoming of prejudices and obstacles that, in her opinion, were harmful for the student, but above all, for the child as a human being who did not deserve to be marked by a world full of disparities of goals and possibilities.

Her great moral principle as an educator became clear when she said:

Every time my school opens there are two anxieties I have inside, sure to be happy if I see them satisfied: one is to try something new, another to seek to correct the defects discovered the day before.[5]

Kindergarten

When the Montevideo Kindergarten was founded, it was not the same as those that served as a model for what Enriqueta observed in Europe, although some things remained.[6] Inspired by the thinking of José Pedro Varela, it was in the end a precursor to the current policy of compulsory preschool education.[7][8] It also served as inspiration to preschool teachers from several countries, including Argentina.

Tributes
Monument located in the Children's Corner of Parque Rodó, by the Uruguayan sculptor Armando González

Currently the oldest preschool on the South American continent, Kindergarten No. 213, founded by Compte in 1892 in the neighborhood of Aguada, bears her name, as does a street in Montevideo.[9]

On 8 March 2016, the Uruguayan Post issued a postage stamp in her honor.[10]

Works
  • 1933, Lecciones de mi escuela
  • 1933, Estudio y Trabajo
  • 1948, Canciones y juegos de mi escuela

References
  1. "Enriqueta Compte y Riqué. Maestra" (in Spanish). Educared. 21 October 2006. Archived from the original on 27 May 2007. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
  2. Recuero, Cecilia; Rey, Solange; Soler, Natalia. "Enriqueta Compte y Riqué" (in Spanish). Espacio Latino. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
  3. Reyes Abadie, Washington (2000). Españoles en el Uruguay [Spaniards in Uruguay] (in Spanish). Ediciones de la Banda Oriental. p. 175. ISBN 9789974101524. Retrieved 24 November 2017 – via Google Books.
  4. Castro, Leticia (14 September 2017). "Enriqueta Compte y Riqué: impulsora de la educación inicial, fundadora del primer jardín de infantes, investigadora pedagógica y defensora de los derechos de la mujer" [Enriqueta Compte y Riqué: Advocate of Early Education, Founder of the First Kindergarten, Educational Researcher, and Defender of Women's Rights]. La Diaria (in Spanish). Retrieved 24 November 2017.
  5. "Maestros Americanos Biografías" [American Teachers Biographies] (in Spanish). Nueva Alejandría. Archived from the original on 10 June 2007. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
  6. "Apertura de inscripciones para Educación Inicial" [Opening of Inscriptions for Initial Education] (in Spanish). Consejo de Educación Inicial y Primaria. 21 October 2016. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
  7. Tornaría Maglio, Carmen (May 1999). "La reforma educativa uruguaya, una apuesta a la equidad con calidad" [The Uruguayan Educational Reform, a Bet on Equity With Quality] (in Spanish). Proyecto CAS. Archived from the original on 19 December 2009. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
  8. "Educación inicial obligatoria a partir de los 4 años" [Compulsory Initial Education From Age 4]. El País (in Spanish). Montevideo. 28 October 2008. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
  9. "Calle Enriqueta Compte y Rique en Montevideo, Uruguay" (in Spanish). Código Postal. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
  10. "Serie Mujeres Notables – Enriqueta Compte y Riqué" [Notable Women Series – Enriqueta Compte y Riqué] (in Spanish). Correo Uruguayo Philatelic Store. Retrieved 24 November 2017.

Further reading
  • 1992, Enriqueta Compte y Riqué. Vigencia y compromiso, Uruguayan OMEP Committee, Montevideo
  • 2006, Marenales, Emilio (compiler), Historia de la educación nacional. Reseñas, artículos y documentos, Lagomar
  • 2010, Maestra militante de la vida. Enriqueta Compte y Rique, Central Directing Council
  • 2014, Ivaldi, Elizabeth, La educación inicial de la casa cuna a la escuela elemental
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