"The ideal of anarchists is not to abolish schools, on the contrary, to make them grow, to make society itself an immense organism of mutual learning, where everyone would be simultaneously students and teachers." - Elisée Reclus, L'Évolution, la révolution et l'idéal anarchique (1897)
At the start of each school year, various unions approach teachers' lounges to "listen to our needs," remind us of the "suffocating bureaucracy," and list the various demands on their posters, among which "better salaries" stands out. Some, the more radical ones, even organize seminars and meetings to extensively criticize the latest legislation. The thing is, as an anarchist teacher, I'm not interested in organizing to achieve salary increases. I could elaborate, but it boils down to "I'm not here for the money." Nor am I interested in complaining about the paperwork, which, in practical terms, isn't so stifling; it's quite manageable, and why not admit it? On many occasions, it helps us do our jobs better. But above all, what I'm absolutely not interested in as an anarchist is wasting a single minute criticizing a law I don't believe in philosophically, and which I will therefore disobey, if necessary, to carry out my teaching practice. Moreover, in the current case, even at the risk of being pelted with stones, it gives me the green light to undertake numerous projects that wouldn't have been so easy to carry out under a previous legal framework.Teachers' organizing and activism must go beyond improving working conditions. We must organize because teaching is "one of the major fronts of struggle for the profound transformation of society" (Paulo Freire, Letters to Those Who Dare to Teach, p. 86). And we must do so from anarchist and libertarian pedagogy, both in the education of students and in the transformation and management of schools, because, as Hugues Lenoir points out in his writing: Libertarian education-this, libertarian education-is the deepest and most lasting of anarchism's victories against authoritarian society. Libertarian educational thought has been largely absorbed and digested by official pedagogical thought: rejection of violence and the omnipotence of the teacher, withdrawal of coercion, project-based pedagogy, fostering dialogue and recognition of the other (VVAA, Anarchist Education, Eleuterio Publishing House, p. 46). This is why we must continue the transformation begun by Fourier, Proudhon, Ferrer i Guardia, and Paul Robin. They would be proud of the improvements we have today, and they wouldn't remain idle, just as we must continue to move forward, using the victories and spaces we have won to fight for more freedom, community, and total emancipation.
Felipe Corrêa, in *Anarquismo Especifista* (Specific Anarchism), discusses how anarchists must "organize themselves, as anarchists... so that this gives them sufficient strength to act within the sphere of social movements." That is, to be active in anarchist organizations to enhance their activism in other spaces, such as social movements, thus making their "dual militancy" effective-a core element of anarchist praxis according to this current. Throughout the text, and as is implied in publications and interventions on specifism, these "social movements" are understood as the primary spaces for achieving social insertion, a term defined by Corrêa himself as "the search for the social vector lost by anarchism." And without clearly defining what this social vector is, it points out that "social insertion reinforces the idea that anarchists must seek... to have a relevant role in the struggle of social and popular movements," thus placing anarchist action outside the libertarian organization itself once again within the realm of social movements. But are there other spaces, beyond "social movements," around which we can organize ourselves to achieve social insertion? I would like to think so. We cannot ignore the rest of our daily lives, in which we probably spend most of our time, from home and work to the bar or our group of friends. In many of these places, as Collin Ward explains in Anarchy in Action4, the vast majority of people practice mutual aid, reject authority and carry out practices of self-management, cooperation and direct action, our task as anarchists being to incite, promote and encourage these practices in any place and time to bring to light the anarchist society that, according to Ward, already exists and is hidden in those daily practices of the masses whose whole remains invisible and eclipsed by the dominant system.
But even beyond social movements and our core circle of friends, community, or neighborhood... are there key spaces for social integration where anarchists should be active? It's impossible not to think of the vast literature written on libertarian pedagogy. Education, schools, the meeting point for young people, the starting point where the first social relationships outside the family are formed-this is possibly the most important space in which to carry out the social integration proposed by libertarianism, and not only as we would in our daily lives, but with the utmost militant commitment, because as Paulo Freire wrote: "we are political activists because we are teachers," with a clear transformative zeal and with clear objectives: 1. To fight for the maximum integral development of each student; 2. To create and transform each school into an ideal place to prepare people to live in anarchy, or in other words, to educate for anarchism.
The first objective places students at the center and is independent of whether or not we achieve our revolutionary ideal. It recognizes that the urgent need for each young person is to learn to live and survive in the world they inherit, while simultaneously providing them with the tools and guidance to become a free individual capable of actively and collectively participating in its transformation.
The second objective centers on a broader, more revolutionary libertarian ideal-a strategic objective that should guide our actions aimed at creating and transforming the educational center both spatially and relationally. The work of anarchist teachers is not directed solely at students but also seeks to influence the daily functioning of the school, as well as its pedagogical and administrative approach, achieving changes among the teaching staff and administration that move towards horizontality, collaborative and cooperative work, and that direct teaching practice in its entirety towards libertarian objectives such as anti-punitiveness, the rejection of coercion and subordination of students, and above all, the search for an authority that is morally and rationally guiding, in the sense of Noam Chomsky (On Anarchism, 2022)5, leaving behind coercive hierarchical authority.
These two objectives demonstrate how anarchists cannot focus solely on teaching practice in our classrooms, but must influence the entire school, all aspects that encompass the daily life of schools and institutes, which can and must be transformed in order to achieve the education we want for our society.
Let us recall José Luis Sampedro, in an interview with Quintero, saying that, for him, anarchism would be the best system, assuming-and he added, "and this assumption is not met"-that we were all educated for anarchism. In this interview, he also explains what an anarchist means to him, simplifying it to a person who does not accept imposed authority, who does not accept being oppressed, nor does he want to dominate anyone. He goes on to say that he can accept moral authority, a guide, a teacher, but not coercive authority, thus agreeing with Noam Chomsky as a contemporary thinker and following in the footsteps of the great anarchist educators. This excerpt concludes by stating that, since the aforementioned condition is not met, anarchy cannot exist either, making it clear that the hopes for the practical possibility of anarchy rest solely and exclusively on the education and preparation of people to live in anarchy.
With these simple reflections, he shows us the need to focus our efforts as anarchists on education and the basic principles of anarchism to inform our teaching practice.
Of course, he wasn't the only one to reach this conclusion, and countless anarchists have focused on analyzing and proposing libertarian pedagogies that foster the holistic development of students from and for freedom, equipping them with the tools for emancipation. I would like to highlight the nuance of the expression "educating for anarchism," because in it we see the anti-dogmatic nature of those of us who embrace the libertarian ideal. No libertarian pedagogy attempts to instill in students an anarchist path or immutable truths; what they seek is to prepare human beings for freedom, which is a rather difficult state of affairs to manage, to prepare people so that they neither want to be oppressors nor accept being oppressed. The lack of this condition, which becomes visible in the lack of morality, translated into repugnant actions between equals - as well as between oppressors and oppressed of different natures - makes evident the need for a meaningful libertarian practice in all areas of life. It is essential that, as anarchist teachers, we work in our schools with the libertarian objective in mind every day, and for this we need the support of the anarchist organization. In this way, just as the goal is not for all participants in social movements to be anarchists, but rather to integrate our practices into these spaces, we do not seek to instill anarchism as an ideology in classrooms and schools, but rather to bring there the practices that we consider effective and necessary for our society.
Given the need to act from an anarchist perspective in our teaching and its close relationship with the approach to social integration developed from a specificist standpoint, how can we combine or implement coordinated and strategic work from within the anarchist organization so as not to act merely as individuals? Initially, there doesn't necessarily have to be other colleagues at the school with whom we share our ideology-although it's very likely there will be, and gathering and engaging them to expand the grassroots activism within the organization would be a parallel task-and this, just as it doesn't happen in social movements, shouldn't be an obstacle to seeking common ground with whom to begin working along the lines mentioned earlier; common ground regarding the specific projects and changes we aim to address, which are the object of our transformative vision. However, we may disagree strongly on other aspects, which should in no way impede collaboration, dialogue, and cooperative work.
But it's important to recognize that this specific work within the school has a deeper impact, and that's where the specialized organization comes in. We meet locally to strengthen and motivate anarchist teachers and integrate their actions into a broader strategy. Within this organization, it is more likely that we will connect with other teachers with whom we can share experiences, in addition to other members of the organization who, while not teachers, can support the transformation. This includes facilitating the school's opening to the community and to social inclusion projects in which they are involved thanks to their dual activism, as well as coordinating and expanding our grassroots outreach to the families of our educational community.
At a final level, the federation of local organizations can include in its strategic plan the creation of education committees. These committees would build networks of knowledge, resources, strength, and discourse, from which projects such as the creation of manuals and materials, or support for teachers to implement school-based projects rooted in libertarian principles, could be coordinated. Create texts and materials tailored to students for each subject, incorporating libertarian practice and ideals, presenting it as a viable option rather than a mere anecdote that died in 1939. We could even consider scholarship programs and student gatherings based on our principles to counter the massive efforts of capital to infiltrate educational institutions and influence the education of young people.
Currently, many initiatives in Spain identify as libertarian or alternative-and are often associated with anarchism. Without entering into a debate, it is clear that these centers, while falling under the previous proposal by emphasizing "creation" rather than simply "transformation," fail to reach a significant portion of society, whereas our objective is total social transformation. This is why the teachers in these schools should be welcomed by the anarchist organization, but we must go further and seek the transformation of all schools in the state and the world, regardless of ownership, if it is within our power. Any criticism of these autonomous initiatives should not conflict with the need to broaden the specialized and platform-based organization.
The seeds that all anarchists can plant in our daily lives; the structural political force emanating from mass fronts; the example of possibility, experience, and results provided by autonomous spaces; and the work in the various spaces of social integration where practices of gradual but radical transformation of the system are carried out, respecting the life rhythm of the people who inhabit them-these are the necessary pieces for the possibility of revolutionary transformation of society. The specialized organization is the wellspring from which the revolutionary anarchist springs and to which he always returns for strength, inspiration, and motivation.
All this work must be accompanied by the existing and established labor unions, which perform essential work to safeguard the physical and psychological well-being of workers, including ourselves. However, these actions cannot be limited to this task; they must be accompanied by a transformative force that carries out actions clearly aimed at transforming daily life, with a focus on students. In other words, we must neither stagnate with old demands nor settle for reforms or labor improvements, but rather advance toward an emancipatory education with all its characteristics and consequences.
C., HEDRA activist
Bibliography and webography:
[1]Paulo Freire (1994): Letters to Those Who Dare to Teach. Ed. Siglo Veintiuno Editores
[2]Various Authors (2012): Anarchist Education. Ed. Editorial Eleuterio. Retrieved from: https://periodicolaboina.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/educacion-anarquista-editorial-eleuterio.pdf
[3]Felipe Corrêa (2014): Specifist Anarchism. Retrieved from: https://es.anarchistlibraries.net/library/felipe-correa-anarquismo-especifista
[4]Collin Ward (1982): Anarchy in Action. Retrieved from: https://www.solidaridadobrera.org/ateneo_nacho/libros/Colin%20Ward%20-%20Anarquia%20en%20accion.pdf
[5]Noam Chomsky (2022): On Anarchism. Ed. Capitan Swing
[6]Jose Luís Sampedro. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvlznkQ_LOU
https://regeneracionlibertaria.org/2025/11/06/el-profesorado-anarquista-y-la-organizacion-especifica/
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Link: (en) Spaine, Regeneration: Anarchist Teachers and Specific Organization By HEDRA ANARQUISTA (ca, de, fr, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]
Source: A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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