“Que tudo seja para a glória e para o progresso da terra admirável de João Pessoa”: nação, escola nova e educação das crianças pequenas nas revistas do ensino da Paraíba (1932 a 1942)

Abstract

This work has as theme the concepts of childhood and children intertwined with the ideals of nation and of the escola nova, found in the articles of the Magazines of the Teaching of Paraíba between the years 1932, date of the first issue, and 1942 year of the last issue. The choice of the theme happened due to the identification with the history of the childhood, focusing especially between the decades of 1930 and 1940 in Paraíba. It is also a reason of great interest, analysing how the teachers from that epoch produced speeches about the education and about the pedagogic practices. The sources researched were: 15 samples of the Revistas do Ensino da Paraíba; from which we used seven samples for citations in our research. This work has as main objective to observe in the articles of the magazine Revista do Ensino da Paraíba how the concepts of childhood and children were being worked between 1932 and 1942. Besides having as specific objectives: Understanding how the escola nova and their methods had influence in the writings about children of this magazine; Working the relation between nation, progress and education of the small children found in the articles. Through our studies it was possible to outline how from these publications were published ideas that had as objective to build a model of society and of a subject. The subjects were based on the speech that would fit to small children the regeneration of the people, once, that it would be through the instruction that adequate formation of these individuals would happen. From brief notes we recognised the influence of the escola nova and how its methods were being disseminated as models for the teaching practices, as a “new model” of teacher. When going through the writings about childhood and about the children in the Revista do Ensino, we aimed to contribute for the writing of the History of the childhood in Brazil, and specifically, in Paraíba, eliciting the subjects that acted in the education of the children and how they became to think these children. The education of the first childhood was perceived as necessary as nation and was connected to the preparation of the children for the first letters and its formation while future citizens.