Constituindo-se professor(a) : percursos, histórias e memórias docentes em Bento Gonçalves (1930-1960)

Abstract

This work discusses the history of teacher training based on the educational practices experienced by four teachers who worked in the municipality of Bento Gonçalves, state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, when they were students in the decades of 1930 to 1960. It is based on Cultural History as its theoretical reference and authors such as Chartier, Foucault and Pesavento. In methodological terms the research project was guided by Oral History and made use of the writings of Halbwachs, Alberti, Ferreira and Amado. Through memories and autobiographical reports, the author investigates the relationship between the pedagogical experiences that the teachers had when they were students and their classroom practice as teachers. The narratives of life stories are seen as essential to understand the processes of schooling and the constitution of a professional identity and teaching practice that began when the teachers themselves were students. The author reconstructs the historical context of the ´1930s through the ´1960s. This period was characterized by educational practices based on nationalistic ideals, according to which discipline, progress and patriotism were the drivers towards a unified fatherland. The results show that, notwithstanding their different educational careers, the educational practices that the teachers experienced as students proved to be similar and influenced their attitudes in the classroom when they became teachers. Their representations of being a teacher expressed the losses they felt over time vis-à-vis their symbolic view of the teaching activity. The results include the central importance of discipline and respect for the teacher´s authority in the various pedagogical moments discussed here.