Histórias e memórias do curso comercial do Colégio São Carlos de Caxias do Sul/RS (1940-1969)

Abstract

This study has researched the history of the Business Course at the Technical Business School of São Carlos High School, in Caxias do Sul - RS state - Brazil. The source material is based on the memoir given by graduate students from the period between 1940 and 1969. São Carlos School began its activities in 1936 with primary school and dedicated its efforts to women's education. Due to the economic growth of the city during the period that was studied, the school sought to adapt to the new times and, in 1940, it started to offer the Technical Business Course, attached to Carmo School, training accountant ladies. Through Brazilian and regional context, this work's objective was to analyze stories and memories of the constitution process of the Business Course at São Carlos High School in Caxias do Sul/RS, between 1940 and 1969, showing how they intertwined with the formative trajectories of the interviewed graduates. It was also analyzed how the training experience contributed to the constitution of the graduates' identities associated with the professional practice in the technical course. Studies on the subject were developed through Oral History and the analysis of documents available at the school, the João Spadari Adami Municipal Historical Archive and newspaper clippings from that time. In addition, the theoretical assumptions developed here refer to Cultural History, History of Education, school culture, professional identity, among others. The Business Course, which began in 1940, offered the female contingent another possibility of training, in addition to those available at the time, such as teaching. Regarding the interviews carried out and the intertwining between the course and accounting practice, it is noted that the study of accounting theory was not sufficient for the execution of the profession itself, but the access to work, parallel to studies in college, contributed significantly for the maintenance of the interviewees' professional identities. Therefore, this research tells the history of the Business Course, specifically of São Carlos School, as a historical production, but also providing opportunities to contribute to other researches related to accounting education, especially with female participation in the optimization processes of the accounting area. [resumo fornecido pelo autor]