Edifícios escolares e educação em Pelotas-RS na Primeira República (1889-1930).

Abstract

This research articulates the fields of history of education with architecture, investigating how school buildings materialize the tensions of the educational context of the First Republic (1889 -1930) in Pelotas. The aim of this study is to identify public and private school buildings constructed in Pelotas (Brazil) during the First Republic (1889 e 1930) and their types, to understand their relationship with the social formation of education in Brazil at that time and place. To do so, in dialogue with previous researches, the theoretical discussion contemplates history of education, the material culture of schooling, urbanization, and academic architecture in Brazil, in Rio Grande do Sul, and in Pelotas. The theoretical-methodological strategy is based in the perspective of new cultural history and the material culture of schooling, and through documental research it explores data from sources such as historical files and archives, almanacs, newspapers, magazines, journals, and architectural designs. The empirical study presents school buildings constructed in Pelotas during the First Republic (1889-1930) and their articulation with the urban context. Of these, five schools were selected for deeper exploration: Gonzaga, João Affonso, Bibiano de Almeida, Mariana Eufrasia, and Dona Antonia. From the observation of the characteristics four types of school buildings emerged: Monumental School Buildings, Standardized School Buildings, Serial School Buildings, and New School Buildings. The results signal that between 1889 and 1930 in Pelotas, through public and private teaching institutions, primary (first years and full time), secondary, and technical schooling was offered in buildings constructed for that use, in urban centers as well as outside of them and in populous neighborhoods; these schools encompass four architectural types which constitute the material culture capable of embodying the existing educational approaches in that 40-year period; there is evidence of significant differences between the realities of public and private schools in that period, be it in relation to teaching levels or to the school buildings; while in the private sphere the typology is Monumental since 1906 (Gonzaga), in the public sphere the typologies are Standardized Buildings, since 1922 (João Affonso and Bibiano de Almeida), Serial Building, between 1922 and 1924 (Mariana Eufrásia), and New School Building, since 1928 (Dona Antonia).