Escuela Normal de Costa Rica (Normal School of Costa Rica): History and Legacy

On the centennial of Escuela Normal de Costa Rica (Normal School of Costa Rica), this paper discusses its role and its legacy in teacher training. It is structured in three parts. First, it presents a brief historical background on the origin and profiles of normal schools in several parts of the world. Second, it describes the development of Escuela Normal in Costa Rica, refers to various personalities and significant elements that set the course and reputation of this institution, and emphasizes its key role in the humanistic training of teachers, which helped lay the foundations of the Costa Rican educational development. Finally, it presents some remarks about the education legacy of this fine institution, which has remained to this date - particularly in tertiary education - within the teacher training career at the Universidad Nacional (National University), major historical heir of Escuela Normal.