Educar a mulher para educar a infância e cuidar da criança em Montes Claros: representações e práticas no jornal Gazeta do Norte (1938 -1953)

Abstract

This research was conducted within the Graduate Program in Education (PPGE) at the State University of Montes Claros (Unimontes). The study is situated in the field of the History of Education, with a theoretical-methodological approach rooted in Cultural History, understanding educational processes as cultural practices, not strictly confined to political, social, and economic dimensions. Spatially referenced, the research falls under Regional History, located in Montes Claros, a central city in the North of Minas Gerais. The study aimed to answer the following problem: From what content did the newspaper Gazeta do Norte seek to shape childhood and prescribe practices for the education and care of children in the context of Montes Claros between 1938 and 1953? The objective of the study is to reconstruct aspects of Regional History, discussing current ideas, expectations, and processes, as well as modes of being and thinking that integrate practices and representations of childhood and education in Montes Claros. The temporal cut considered the years from 1938 to 1953, encompassing the period between the closure and reopening of the Official Normal School in Montes Claros, the main teacher training institution in the northern region of Minas Gerais. This time frame is justified by the strong presence of the referred Normal School in previous publications of the newspaper Gazeta do Norte and indicates the relevance of discussing how the educational content of this newspaper reconfigured after the institution's closure by decree in 1938. Considering that historical research is built on a tripod – sources, interpretation, narration – the newspaper Gazeta do Norte was used as a documentary source, with reference to the notions of representation and practice proposed by Roger Chartier, to interpret reality and reconstruct aspects of education in Montes Claros. In the historiographic process and understanding of past reality, editions of the newspaper Gazeta do Norte were accessed in their physical and digital forms through the platform of the Brazilian Digital Library and the Regional Research and Documentation Center (Cepedor) of Unimontes. The results revealed that, in the representations disseminated in the newspaper, children's education was supported by three forces: teachers, clergy, and family; that the education of the mother was considered a condition for the education of the child in its physical and moral aspects, through care within the family; and that the medico-hygienist policy conferred responsibilities on mothers to combat malnutrition and adopt hygiene habits. Finally, it was found that educational ideas, supported by New School Movement conceptions, aimed to select texts and attributed to reading habits and children's literature the power to promote intellectual development or pervert their formation.