Museus escolares no Estado de São Paulo (1879-1942)

Abstract

This master s degree research and thesis aims to study school museums in the state of Sao Paulo between 1879 and 1942. The historic period of this research has been determined by legislation regarding school museums. It was first mentioned in law in 1879, after a reform entitled Leôncio de Carvalho, when school museums were acknowleged as an indispensible tool of cientific education. The final cut is delimited in 1942 when one realizes the organization of museums governed by the São Paulo State Education Code (1933), which demarcated new specifics to the presentation and use of school museums. School museums are connected to the development of intuitive method and the concept of the lessons of things . The term school museum is polissemic, mainly because school museums fulfill various purposes: keeping objects in closets, presenting parietal collections, as well as day-to-day use as classrooms. This research aims to understand how these school museums were organized, particularlly in the State of Sao Paulo, through observation of their diverse presentation and disposition. The most important question raised in this thesis is: how were they organized and which school practices they brough to their learning enviroments? The hypothesis is that the school museum goes beyond a simple deposit of objects, being an vehicule of didactive practices with particular meanings adressed both by students and teacher, which earned school museums a diverse typology. This research was conducted through written documentation, iconographic documentation and teaching artifacts and objects, which were consulted at the following archives: Public Archive of the State Of Sao Paulo, Reference Centre of the State of Sao Paulo, Reference Centre Mario Covas (School Caetano de Campos Archives), the Paulista Museum, Maristas Glória School, Arquidiocesano School, and the Didatic Book Library of Universidade de São Paulo. On these places, research consulted Teaching Yearbooks, Educational Material Requests; Teaching Programs; Correspondence; Photographs; catalogues from companies that provided school material; catalogues from companies that provided scientific material; educational books on science and magazines from the educational sector. It was concluded that the school museum was a vector for teaching practices with particular meanings given for student and teacher within the school and that its composition varied also because of investment possibilities and understanding of the requirements, which earned him several typologies