A Escola Estadual de 1º GRAU João Fernandes, em Maracaju, de 1974 a 1991: Sinais da cultura escolar

Abstract

This Master's Thesis in Education is linked to the research line History of Education, Memory and Society of the Graduate Program in Education of the Faculty of Education at the Federal University of Grande Dourados (PPGEdu/FAED/UFGD). Its theme is school culture in an institution in the south of Mato Grosso do Sul. The general objective of this dissertation was to analyze aspects of the functioning of the João Fernandes State Elementary School, an institution that operated under this nickname from 1974 to 1991, in municipality of Maracaju, a period that we delimited as a time frame for this research. As specific objectives, we intend to collect documentation about the school during this period; analyze elements of school architecture considering the available photographs; problematize elements of the school curriculum in accordance with the time and the institution's documentation; highlight aspects of the institution's operating practices such as festivities and extracurricular activities, specifically a School Club. The aforementioned temporal delimitation refers, respectively, to the moment when, due to the enactment of Law n. 5.692/1971, the institutions named Grupo Escolar became the responsibility of the State and were divided into 1st or 2nd grade schools, depending on the number of students and audience reached, a fact that happened with the school investigated here.In order to analyze the indicated aspects of the functioning of the João Fernandes State Elementary School, we had as basis the School Culture, understanding it as manifestations of the institution's practices and daily life, which constitutes the tension between social culture and the institution itself. These aspects were understood as signs, according to Carlos Guinburg's perspective, as they provide us with clues to problematize the history of the school in a given historical time.We also dialogued with authors from the History of Education to analyze the sources, which come from the school archive, the Maracaju City Hall and people who studied and worked during the years we established as a time frame, namely the period from 1974 to 1991. We used Laws, Decrees, Enrollment Books, photographs and “oral statements” from some people, considering the themes that emerged during the structuring of the research.In view of the research, we can consider that the school curriculum in the 1970s was marked by the impact of the Military Dictatorship, as it attempted to bring to children an aspect of civility and nation spirit, especially through the teaching of Portuguese Language, which was determined as the main “content” of the time. From 1971 onwards, admission to the school was facilitated, as the entrance exam was abolished, a fact that contributed to the democratization of the school and possibly changed the profile of students at the institution, which started to receive poor children, as we noticed in some records of enrollment.In addition, the parties, celebrations and rituals that were present in the daily life of the João Fernandes State Elementary School were part of this scenario, as well as the School Club, which had the practice of sport as its main purpose, seeking to train people in their physical aspects and social. Analyzing the functioning aspects of the João Fernandes State Elementary School, between the years 1974 and 1991, we had the opportunity to meet the “beings of flesh and blood” who began to narrate their lives and the stories told by each one of them trace another piece in the scenario of the history of Brazilian education.