A Pioneer Project of a School Psychotechnic Center (1920)

Emilio Mira y López (1896-1964) was the great international figure of Spanish applied psychology in the first half of the 20th century. His work “The selection of drivers for the Bus General Company” (1922) was a key contribution to the development of personnel selection and the evaluation of professional skills in Spain. Another relevant work, but scarcely cited, has been “Initiation of school children in social life. Necessity of establishing vocational guidance schools or institutes. Means for their creation and development”, to which this article is dedicated. Mira’s work consists of three parts (a) the social preparation of the child at school, (b) the need to establish vocational guidance schools or institutes, and (c) the means for its creation and development. Mira makes a distinction between guidance and selection tasks and discusses various practical aspects such as the minimum working hours of such centers, the structure of the guidance process, and the guidance functions of the center. Finally, the article summarizes Mira’s theoretical and practical contribution.