O Programa do Livro Didático para o Ensino Fundamental do Instituto Nacional do Livro – PLIDEF/INL (1971-1976): um estudo sobre as condições históricas e sociais e as paradas em jogo no campo

Abstract

This Master’s thesis aims to investigate the Textbook Program for Elementary Education of the National Book Institute (PLIDEF-INL), which worked through a coedition system of textbooks between the public and private sectors from 1971 to 1976. The data were collected in different sources, such as Government’s Official newsletters, National Congress newsletters, annals of the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, documents issued by the Ministry of Education and Culture, the National Book Institute and the Student Support Foundation, besides articles published in newspapers (Folha de São Paulo, Jornal do Brasil, Diário de Notícias, Diário do Paraná, Correio da Manhã, A Luta Democrática, O Estado de Mato Grosso and Movimento and Fato Novo) and in magazines (Veja and Realidade) and in textbooks of this period. Based on French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu’s concept of field, this study sought to answer the following questions: Which were the historical and social conditions that enabled the field of the PLIDEF/INL to exist? Which were the contest at stake that mobilized agents and institutions involved in the field? The development of this study showed that the constitution of the field of the PLIDEF/INL was based on its interaction with the field of political power, literary and school. Regarding the production of didactic books, 927 books were published in the following syllabus components: Languages, Mathematics, Social Studies, Natural Sciences, Moral and Civic Education. The Languages syllabus predominated in PLIDEF/INL, because it represented approximately 44% of all published books. Concerning the partnership between the public and private sectors, it was identified the presence of thirty-six publishing houses in the program. However, only 9 out of 36 companies (IBEP, Editora do Brasil, Abril Cultural, Companhia Editora Nacional, FTD, Tabajara, Bloch and Vigília) represented around 70% of the published books. Regarding the contest at stake, there was mobilization towards some themes, such as the format of the program, the price and the model of the textbooks, besides the participation of the State Education Department and the teachers in the choice of published books and their distribution in Brazilian states. The research results also indicate that, despite the fact that the “problem of the didactic book” led to intense debate in that period, its presence in the Brazilian schools was considered unquestionable.