A Congregação das Irmãs Franciscanas da Penitência e Caridade Cristã e sua atuação na educação escolar em Itaporã - MT (1958-1972)

Abstract

The present doctoral dissertation is linked to the line of research “History of Education, Memory and Society” of the Graduate Program in Education of the Federal University of Grande Dourados. The study focus lies on the educational actions of the Congregation of the Franciscan Sisters of Penance and Christian Charity, who migrated from the Province of Rio Grande do Sul into the southern Mato Grosso, more precisely to the municipalities of Dourados and Itaporã. The study aims at analyzing the educational actions of the Congregation of the Franciscan Sisters of Penance and Christian Charity, seeking to understand their contribution to the implementation and consolidation of the catholic-oriented school education in the municipality of Itaporã, from 1958 to 1972. The time delimitation of the research starts in 1958 because the Congregation of the Franciscan Sisters of Penance and Christian Charity arrived in Itaporã that year, and finishes in 1972 for that was the year when the Sisters of the Congregation left the administration of Antônio João Ribeiro School. The study has the following core question: how did the Congregation of the Franciscan Sisters of Penance and Christian Charity, by means of their educational actions, contributed to the development of a catholic-oriented school education in the municipality of Itaporã from 1958 through 1972? The investigation is based upon the concepts of strategies and tactics of Certeau (1998). The research is constituted of historical sources from the public archive of Cuiabá (Mato Grosso, Brazil), from the Documentation Regional Center of UFGD – MS, and from the Diocese of Itaporã (Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil). Those sources include documents like the Record Book of the parish São José de Itaporã, Chronicles of Antônio João Ribeiro School, the book “Paróquia São José de ItaporãMS” (2006) and books written by members of the Franciscan Order, namely: “Uma trajetória de fé e perseverança: Irmãs Franciscanas da Penitência e Caridade Cristã” (2008), written by Sister Maria Aparecida Marques; “Seguindo Passo a Passo, uma caminhada: História da Congregação das Irmãs Franciscanas da Penitência e Caridade Cristã no Brasil” (1993), written by Sister Benícia Flesch; and “A Missão Franciscana do Mato Grosso” (1988), written by Pedro Knob. The documents also included reports of the Education Secretary of Mato Grosso, issues of the newspaper “O Progresso”, files of the Antônio João Ribeiro State School, such as the Record Book of Diplomas of students from Itaporã (1955-1966), and the Record Book of Civic Minutes and Meetings of Antônio João Ribeiro School (1958-1976). Other documents used in the research include personal files of the subjects who lived within the time and spacial cut of this research. The results allowed us to understand that the Congregation of the Franciscan Sisters of Penance and Christian Charity, by means of their educational actions, contributed to the development of the catholic-oriented school education in Itaporã from 1958 to 1972, once those Sisters came to that municipality aiming at helping the Franciscan Friars on educational tasks, and worked on the primary education level at Antônio João Ribeiro School and at Reunidas de Itaporã School, in the preschool education, at the parochial kindergarten, assisting children who were still not old enough to attend the classes at Antônio João Ribeiro and Reunidas de Itaporã Schools. That educational action was carried out at teaching and at the schools’ administration as well. At a time when Itaporã still needed qualified teachers, the Sisters arrived as properly certified educators. Besides that, the Franciscan Sisters founded, in 1960, Santo Antônio School, a catholic confessional institution, which aimed at facilitating the entrance of those religious teachers to various educational levels in Itaporã, such as courses to train teachers, kindergarten, Primary and Secondary Education. Therefore, it could be concluded that the Franciscan Sisters of Penance and Christian Charity, together with the Franciscans, built tactics and strategies to provide and legitimate a catholic-oriented education in Itaporã, not only in confessional schools, but also in other institutions, including public ones, producing standards to forge, instruct and catechize students.