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Cadernos de História da Educação

On-line version ISSN 1982-7806

Cad. Hist. Educ. vol.20  Uberlândia  2021  Epub Jan 29, 2022

https://doi.org/10.14393/che-v20-2021-2 

Articles

Francisco Alves da Silva Castilho: a teacher in the invention of the 19th century Brazilian School1

Angélica Borges1 
http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0207-943X; lattes: 8302434402212876

Giselle Baptista Teixeira2 
http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7264-2908; lattes: 3077160513014383

1Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (Brasil). angelicaborgesrj@gmail.com

2Prefeitura Municipal de Duque de Caxias (Brasil). gizt2000@yahoo.com.br


Abstract

In this article we analyze aspects of the trajectory of a court primary public teacher, Francisco Alves da Silva Castilho, who taught for approximately 38 years (1849-1887), in order to provide a reflection on the different roles played by teaching in the invention of the Brazilian school, from the nineteenth century, and the teaching profession. Castilho became the author of books, wrote in periodicals, participated in Pedagogical Conferences and associations that indicate different ways of insertion in society. The study uses the contributions of Antonio Nóvoa, Escolano Benito and Edward Thompson with regard to the process of teaching professionalization; the configuration of school history and teaching; and the concept of experience, to think about the constitution of the teaching trajectory. The investigation used handwritten documents from the Rio de Janeiro City General Archive, reports from the General Inspectorate of Education, textbooks and periodicals located at the National Library of Brazil.

Keywords: Teaching profession; Primary education; Brazil Empire

Resumo

Neste artigo analisamos aspectos da trajetória de um professor público primário da Corte, Francisco Alves da Silva Castilho, que lecionou por aproximadamente 38 anos (1849-1887), com intuito de propiciar uma reflexão acerca dos diferentes papéis desempenhados pela docência na invenção da “Escola brasileira” Oitocentista e do próprio magistério. Castilho tornou-se autor de livros, escreveu em periódicos, participou de Conferências Pedagógicas e de associações que indicam diferentes modos de inserção na sociedade. O estudo usa as contribuições de Antonio Nóvoa, Escolano Benito e Edward Thompson no que se refere ao processo de profissionalização docente; à configuração da história escolar e do magistério; e ao conceito de experiência, para se pensar a constituição da trajetória docente. A investigação utilizou documentos manuscritos do Arquivo Geral da Cidade do Rio de Janeiro, relatórios da Inspetoria Geral de Instrução, manuais escolares e periódicos localizados na Biblioteca Nacional.

Palavras-chave: Profissão docente; Instrução primária; Brasil Império

Resumen

En este artículo analizamos aspectos de la trayectoria de un maestro público primario de la corte, Francisco Alves da Silva Castilho, que enseñó durante aproximadamente 38 años (1849-1887), con el fin de proporcionar una reflexión sobre los diferentes roles que desempeña la enseñanza en la invención de la "Escuela" siglo XVIII y la profesión docente en sí. Castilho se convirtió en autor de libros, escribió en publicaciones periódicas, participó en conferencias y asociaciones pedagógicas que indican diferentes formas de inserción en la sociedad. El estudio utiliza las contribuciones de Antonio Nóvoa, Escolano Benito y Edward Thompson con respecto al proceso de profesionalización docente; la configuración de la historia escolar y la enseñanza; y el concepto de experiencia, para pensar en la constitución de la trayectoria docente. La investigación utilizó documentos escritos a mano del Archivo General de la Ciudad de Río de Janeiro, informes de la Inspección General de Educación, libros de texto y publicaciones periódicas ubicados en la Biblioteca Nacional.

Palabras clave: Profesión docente; Educación primaria; Imperio de Brasil

The school organized is this way is a small society...

(CASTILHO, Escola Brasileira, 1859, p.21)

Introduction

Teaching is an occupation closely related to the projects of civilization, progress and ordering of societies in the 19th century. Despite the effects of the normative regulation of the profession that focused on teacher training, selection and practice, it is worth considering regional diversities, school cultures and teaching experiences that gave different nuances to the processes of the profession constitution (MUNHOZ; BORGES, 2018). In this sense, investigating the trajectories of teachers contributes to understanding the complex tensions that operate in the configuration of the profession and the school, understanding trajectory, as pointed out by Vidal (2010), as a set of experiences accumulated by the teacher throughout his life.

Thus, in this study we intend to analyze aspects of the trajectory and work of a primary public teacher of the Court, Francisco Alves da Silva Castilho, who taught for approximately 38 years (1849-1887) at the same school. Castilho became the author of books, wrote in periodicals, participated in Pedagogical Conferences and associations that indicate different ways of insertion in society and, in the end of his career, he was appointed delegate of instruction. A teacher who also tried to exercise the right to think differently and to question the commands he received. Thus, the aim is to reflect on the different roles played by teachers in the invention of the 19th century “Brazilian school” and the teaching profession itself.

To produce the analysis, we operate with the contributions of Nóvoa (1991) with regard to the teaching professionalization process; with the reflections of Escolano Benito (2011) when understanding that the history of the school and the teaching profession are marked by accommodations, translations, appropriations and resistances and by the way teachers construct a social and cultural role; and with the concept of experience by Thompson (1981) in order to consider the individual and collective teaching experiences produced in the game of social tensions.

The investigation was carried out using handwritten documents from the General Archive of the City of Rio de Janeiro (ACGRJ), reports from the General Inspectorate of Primary and Secondary Education of the Court (IGIPSC), school manuals located in the National Library and periodicals from the time available digitally in the Brazilian national library. The study is organized in two movements. In the first, we performed an analysis of the teacher's trajectory, emphasizing his performance at school, in the press and in society. In the second, we present a reflection on his production of school books and teaching methods, including the “Escola brasileira” that helps to compose the title of this article.

The place of teaching exercise: the public school in the parish of Campo Grande

Born in the parish of Nossa Senhora do Desterro in Campo Grande, located in the municipality of Court, capital of the Empire, Francisco Alves da Silva Castilho was appointed to a public primary male school in the parish of Campo Grande, on 5/02/1849, remaining in office until his retirement on 12/02/1887, thus counting 38 years of teaching.

Castilho, according to Schueler, was part of a group of teachers who presented an intellectual and didactic production contributing to the “constitution of school culture, fields of knowledge and pedagogical practices” (2005a, p.1). In her research, the author can perceive how teachers belonging to a group of intellectuals from the second half of the 19th century, “maintained an active participation in the educational scenario at the time, also acting as authors of books and teaching materials and participating in several types of writing production, such as memoirs, reports on schools and practices, letters, correspondence, petitions, chronicles, prose and poetry, among others.” (SCHUELER; SILVA, 2006, p.6127).

For Castilho to participate in activities in the center of the Court he had to go a long way. Campo Grande was a rural parish, which meant, among other things, difficulty in getting around and a salary difference in the exercise of the teaching profession. The salary of the public teacher was lower in rural areas. But Castilho also taught in private education, as pointed out by a study covering the period from 1860 to 1889 and which shows that working in private schools and colleges as teachers, principals and/or owners was not uncommon among public teachers (SCHUELER; SILVA, 2006, p.6127). Schueler also addresses the existence of other professional activities carried out by teachers and brings the example of professor Castilho himself: “Recognized for the authorship of textbooks and schoolbooks, he was denounced for dedicating himself more to agriculture on his farm, located in the same location, which properly to his teaching activities” (SCHUELER, 2002, p. 179). The accusation is in line with the conception that the teacher should dedicate exclusively to teaching, which will become a norm foreseen in the laws and one more mechanism to regulate the professionalization of teaching, a historical process of constitution of the profession through training mechanisms, recruitment and regulation (SCHUELER, 2002; NÓVOA, 1991).

According to the Court’s Instruction Rules of 1854, each parish in the city should have its educational establishments inspected by a government-appointed delegate of instruction. Through the documents produced in this service, it is possible to understand the functioning of schools and aspects of the local reality2. The delegate responsible for supervising the parish of Campo Grande was the doctor Eugênio Carlos de Paiva, who held the position for 28 years, a task interrupted by his death.

It was possible to locate a set of documents that point out the concern of the General Inspectorate of Primary and Secondary Education of the Court (IGIPSC) with attendance at the school in Campo Grande. In response to a request from the inspector general, delegate Eugenio, who frequently passed in front of the school, for it was in his way to work, also used the Church's testimony to prove that the establishment was open daily:

as a doctor in this parish I often pass by the Public School and I have not yet met the door closed on working days, in addition to those I have mentioned in monthly certificates. The closest neighbor to the public establishment is the vicar of the parish, a very capable person who is worthy of faith and respect: this also affirms the teacher's attendance (AGCRJ, Codex 11.1.4, 15/02/1857, f.31).

In another document, the delegate attributed the low frequency to two problems: “how far away is the School, from different places in the Parish: the small number of small boys in the same area, and the very little will or rather the disgust that the inhabitants of this District have to enroll the boys in the Public School” (AGCRJ, Codex 11.1.4, 25/10/1857, f.53).

The disgust that the doctor claims the inhabitants have is part of the discourse that blames the family for their children's ignorance and that intends to remove from it the role of education in favor of schooling. According to Cunha (2000) the family institution that “was characterized as in a permanent state of malfunction, was said to be incompetent, incapable, without qualities to educate children” (2000, p.452-453). In the struggle to insert families into normal standards one of the fronts was the school especially boarding schools with strict standards of morality and hygiene (CUNHA, 2000). The speech about the family's incompetence can also be seen in a document by professor Castilho. When presenting a teaching method of his own to IGIPSC, Castilho mentions the existence of a poor boy whose family was not an “education lover”, but who had learned quickly from the method that was being discussed in the inspectorate3. The idea of the family's need to ensure the education of children also appears in a work by Castilho aimed at moral and religious education, as well as the problem of irregular attendance of students, as we will discuss below.

Although the location of the school where he taught for 38 years was situated in a rural parish, far from the headquarters of IGIPSC, located, in the so-called Ourives Street, in the city center, there was a significant exchange of letters between the inspection department and the teacher, as we can see through the documentation kept at the AGCRJ, as well as an involvement with issues related to the action of the inspectorate, the movement of teachers and the pedagogical press. A sign of the teacher's effort to expose his ideas and actively participate in the discussions around instruction that were on the pedagogical agenda of the time. It also demonstrates the exercise of building social and cultural protagonism through teaching practice (BENITO ESCOLANO, 2011).

“Dictated by enthusiasm today”: participation in educational debates and insertion in society

Professor Castilho's performance can be observed through letters exchanged with IGIPSC, in the writings produced for the pedagogical press, in the debates that took place in the Pedagogical Conferences and in the newspapers of the time. In the case of the documents of his authorship, his writing seems to acquire different nuances, according to the period in which he writes, the function and the addressee of his speech.

The tone and eloquence depended on the objective to be achieved by the teacher such as approval of a method or compendium, claim, questioning or complaint, and, also, of the public or individual for which it is intended, that is, the inspector, the government, fellow teachers, the journal reader. Diversified writing strategies for each situation, as recommended by the civility manuals of the time, such as the so-called Código do Bom Tom by Canon Roquette, published in 1845.

In 1856, when dedicating to the inspector general two methods of his authorship called “Escola brasileira”, he produced a two-page document, through which he sets out his ideas regarding the Court's Primary and Secondary Instruction Rules of 1854:

With the brilliant dawn that has been clarifying the entire circumference of our horizon, progress appears in all branches of public administration like the flowers of the dawn of a bright day. Public education will be the star of this great day; and its brightness will illuminate the changed face of our soil. Excuse me, Your Honor, this preamble dictated by my enthusiasm today. The teachers of the first letters lay in a lethal discouragement due to the critical state of public education, when on February 17, 1854 the Regulation for the reform of primary and secondary education in the Municipality of the Court was published. The municipality greeted this Dove that the happy announcement of a new era would enter and public teachers will release a long sigh, venting their chest to receive a sweet hope of life. However, the delay in the execution of this Law, the embarrassments that opposed the current Professors from entering to enjoy the advantages offered to them by this Regulation, [unidentified word] they seriously need that the Public Instruction not to leave this state of chronic and perhaps incurable apathy so soon, if Your Honor called to be Inspector General had not come to it with such promptness and solicitude. [...] however, as members of this class, which today is distinguished by the prestigious name of Your Honor, which other generating [?], so much zeal and so much affection shows and they, the teachers of the first letters consider themselves so pledged for the services that Your Honor has rendered the Public Instruction that they will be considered performed if they could demand a triumphal Arch to mark your enthusiasm at this time of the Administration of Your Honor. This monument should then be an entirely [?] national education system, that is adapted to the special circumstances of the country, it would be the nationalization of teaching both in the method and in the Doctrine. However, in this work Your Honor may be the Architect and we could not work on it except as mere workers, although animated with the greatest goodwill. For my part, I am the most insignificant of the members of this body, but that is not why a less warm blood flows through my veins than that which animates all my companions. Although in the [unidentified word] and strength of Your Honor's crests, however, I work dominated by the same feeling prove not to undervalue the honor that Your Honor lavishes across the class: and full of recognition, I ask Your Honor permission to dedicate the premises of my work to you. There are two methods of teaching how to read, which I have organized under the title Brazilian School, which should comprehend all the works of elementary education, one for teaching boys, and the other set especially for adults, which can also be used for older children of developed intelligence. If this work can satisfy the purpose for which it is destined thus becoming worthy of the Person to whom it is dedicated, I hope that Your Honor will receive it as a small tribute from me, in discount of great debt in which is owed to Your Honor by the whole class of Public First Letters Teachers of the Municipality of the Court (Codex 10.4.38, 25/06/1856, fs.19-20).

The quote is large, but it allows us to glimpse important aspects of the debate of the time. It is noted that Castilho made his remarks as if he were representing the class of professors of the Court, a representation that was the subject of dispute in the teaching body in the second half of the 19th century4 (VILLELA, 2002; SCHUELER, 2002; LEMOS, 2006). He praised the 1854 Regulation which would have emerged as a “brilliant dawn” that came to animate teachers in a situation of “lethal” discouragement. However, he claims that the existence of the law was not enough, someone needed to assist the class with solicitude. Then, Minister Couto Ferraz appoints Eusébio de Queiroz as inspector general, one of the cardinals of the conservative group from Rio de Janeiro, called Saquaremas (MATTOS, 2004). With a laudatory language, the teacher reflects on the policy for teaching and expresses his enthusiasm for Eusébio's administration. The “triumphal arch” would come with a teaching system, both with method and doctrine of a national character. With the explanation of such ideas, he introduces his offer, initiated with the humility of an “insignificant”, as advised by the rules of civility, of his two methods of reading, which fit in a convenient manner in the ideal of a teaching system adapted to Brazilian reality defended by the teacher.

However, in a document of 4/09/1856 (AGCRJ, Codex 10.4.38, f.35), we observed Castilho in a resistance action among so many that constitute the school's history, as pointed out by Escolano Benito (2011), beating the criticisms present in the report of Inspector Eusébio de Queiroz, referring to the year 1855. Despite his admiration for the inspector, the professor was not inhibited in the task of contesting. At the beginning of the letter, the teacher complained about the school house and asked for the construction of a suitable building. He reported having read in the “illustrated report” that Eusébio, when comparing the frequency of schools between parishes suggests that he does not see the need for the Campo Grande school to continue functioning and to burden public coffers. The reason would be the “ineffectiveness” of the school, attributed to the small number of students. In view of the inspector's report, the professor argued that the school was the only one in the region, located in a place called Mendanha, for which it was removed because it was considered the most convenient. He claimed that it is attended by a growing number of students, even more than in other parishes in the city, and pointed out as proof the frequency maps from 1849 to 1853, the year in which the move to that place was ordered.

Professor Castilho attributed the low frequency to the great distance that poor boys had to travel to get to school and to the two-session regime that required them to make four trips on foot. Given the situation, the students ended up not returning to the afternoon class. The teacher had already asked the inspector months before “to deign to remove from my school the embarrassments and inconveniences that result from the execution of art.22 of the Internal Rules” (Codex 10.4.38, 01/31/1856, f.14). Article 22 stipulated that the school should operate in two shifts. In summer, from 8am to 11am. In the winter, from 8:30am to 11:30am. The afternoon classes would always be from 3pm to 5:30pm. Such organization of classes was highly criticized by teachers, especially those who worked in parishes distant from the center of the Court and also motivated the writing of a petition by the parents of the students who requested changes in schedules.

Castilho also pointed out a solution already known and suggested by many teachers and, equally, indicated by the regulation: “Therefore, being my sole purpose to warn Your Honor about the need for a house for the school, which cannot be dismissed from this parish, where on the contrary only the boarding school could satisfy the needs of this place, I conclude this letter”. (Codex 10.4.38, 31/01/1856, f.14)

Along with the problem of distance and the regime of two class sessions, the teacher raises another aspect that, according to him, contributes to the low frequency: the requirement of vaccination of students for enrollment in schools, as established by article 69 of the 1854 regulations. The requirement was the subject of debates involving teachers, delegates and the inspector general. Castilho, in a letter addressed to the inspector general explains that:

In addition to the aforementioned cause, it may also be that some requirements of the Regulation of February 17, due to misinterpretation, have innocently contributed here to absent school attendance today, because in fact many parents just for not vaccinating their children prefer to leave them in ignorance staying in this point contradicted the mind of the legislator when he understood that the interest of instruction would make parents deal with more diligence in taking care of their children's lives exposed to the terrible smallpox disease. (Codex 10.4.38, 4/09/1856, p.35).

In the document sent by Castilho, a separate note can be observed, made after delivery at IGIPSC, which says that “it has also been noted that the requirement for the vaccine has been a reason for difficulty in attendance” and that therefore it seems convenient to spread the vaccination and “allow the execution of this provision to be relaxed, since it is increasing the affliction to the afflicted to make him suffer” (AGCRJ, Codex 10.4.38, 4/09/1856, p.35). Although it does not have a signature, it is possible that it was authored by the inspector general, agreeing with the problem and registering some solutions such as relaxing the implementation of the standard.

Years later, in the 1860s, Castilho appears as a member of the Academia Pedagógica that was installed with “the purpose of studying pedagogy and all matters related to primary education” (CORREIO MERCANTIL and O CORREIO DA TARDE, 26/07/1860). At the Academy, teachers organized themselves into two study groups: one to study teaching theory, formed by Francisco Alves da Silva Castilho together with professors Candido Matheus de Faria Pardal and Joaquim Sabino Pinto Ribeiro; another to study teaching practice. Castilho was part of the statute committee, indicating that he was also in charge of the organization of that institution.

This teaching movement was accentuated in the 1870s and 1880s, which, according to Martinez (1998) was a period marked by tensions and conflicts in which instruction and education of the population were intensely discussed, due to the socio-political, economic and cultural transformations of the time. It is worth remembering that, in 1871, teachers wrote the Manifesto dos Professores Públicos da Instrução Primária da Corte addressed to the Emperor and the Minister of the Empire in which they denounced the precarious situation they worked in (LEMOS, 2006). In this sense, Castilho's writing and statements will also accompany the heat of the debates.

At that time, Pedagogical Conferences were organized in which Castilho, who had accumulated more than 20 years of experience in teaching, actively participated. The conferences were constituted as a device for modeling and teacher training, imposed by the imperial government, considering that the presence of public teachers was mandatory and those who did not justify their absence would be punished with the loss of bonuses5. The Conferences functioned as a strategy to ensure the homogenization of the teaching class, in view of the search for an ideal teacher model. However, they also established a space that provided the meeting of teachers and contributed to the discussions around educational issues (BORGES; GONDRA, 2005). In a report by Inspector General Homem de Mello about the first Conference it appears that after the Board of Directors examined the works produced, they were declared “worthy of distinction, revealing study, zeal and dedication in the performance of their duties in the primary teaching”, among several teachers, was Francisco Alves da Silva Castilho. Amongst the nine professors listed6 three were linked to the organization of the journal “A Instrução Pública”: Costa e Cunha, Cony and Castilho.

The sections of the journal “A Instrução Pública”, according to Villela, dealt with “legal acts and teaching legislation, presented methodological issues and subjects of general interest such as economics, physiology of the human body, literary texts with moral or religious background, poetry, grammatical, mathematical, riddles, news issues” (2000, p.129). The author points out that from the editorials of this periodical, a real controversy started among teachers that culminated in the creation of another newspaper, called “A Verdadeira Instrução Pública”, indicating, already by the title, its character of opposition to the first accused of being linked to the government.

Throughout the exercise of teaching, the relationship of professor Francisco Alves da Silva Castilho with the different subjects who were in the government position was characterized by adhesions, but also by questioning and criticisms. Thus, it is possible to understand his performance in a pedagogical newspaper linked to the government and his response to criticisms made to the teaching profession by the ministers of the empire who complained about the lack of pedagogical training of the schoolmaster (Schueler, 2005b). According to Schueler, Castilho understood that the issue was a problem of disputes, in which teachers and the government blamed each other for the causes of the delay in instruction:

And the government, quite naturally, ‘believing it’s already made an effort’, put in the performance and in the people of the masters - the supposed lack of modern teaching methods - the blame for school failure in the city. Also, likewise in a natural way, said Castilho, the teachers, in dealing with their daily work, pointed out to the government other causes for the progress of public education to be eroded. The main one was obvious: the deficiency of the monetary remuneration, in the textual words of the master (2005b, p.385, original highlights).

In the face of criticism, it is interesting to highlight that Castilho, after being retired from teaching, became the delegate of instruction of the parish of Campo Grande. The nomination indicates that his performance and experience in the field of teaching, in the authorship of textbooks and teaching methods, as well as the reflections he produced throughout his career, may have given him a favorable status for a particular teaching and inspection model sought by the government. Holder of pedagogical knowledge, Castilho could exercise a more effective inspection, with an educational character, as the conservatives and inspectors Eusébio de Queiroz and Bandeira Filho wanted when they affirmed that the delegates, invested with a certain knowledge could guide the teachers “in the performance of their duties, advise them on the teaching practice, correct their defects, encourage their dedication, and applaud their successful efforts” (Report of IGIPSC de 1883, p. 10).

With regard to other modes of insertion in society, it should be noted that his name appears as the founder of the Instituto Philarmonico of the Parish of Campo Grande (O APÓSTOLO, 13/02/1870, p.56) and as a member of the Sociedade Beneficente e Propagadora of the rights of citizens in the parish of Campo Grande. In the inaugural speech of the Instituto Philarmonico, Castilho affirms that “life needs enjoyment”, but not the enjoyment of “delight of the body”, but “in the recreation of the spirit and in the satisfaction of the moral needs that constitutes the enjoyment of the soul and contentment from heart” (O APÓSTOLO, 27/02/1870, p. 71). For this reason, the Institute had the purpose “to obtain singers for the religious exercises of our mother church and at the same time instrumentalists for family recess” (O APÓSTOLO, 27/02/1870, p. 72). He also addressed the importance of “bonds of social unity”, claiming that “mankind degenerates and becomes brutish by fleeing society for isolation” (O APÓSTOLO, 27/02/1870, p. 71). For this reason, he defends that they meet more frequently at the Institute to avoid the evils of isolation.

The other institution, in which Castilho worked, Sociedade Beneficente e Propagadora of the rights of citizens in the parish of Campo Grande, draws a lot of attention by its name. A note from the newspaper Correio da Tarde, when dealing with the first actions, already points out the intrigues between these associations and local politics. The note seemed to have the intention of proving the veracity of the objectives of the society and of the group's performance - “to cover the mouth of backbiting or to silence the unbelievers” - in face of the disbelief surrounding these institutions that would be linked to the disgraces of the “disadvantaged of fortune”, caused by the “innocent exercise of the most important of their constitutional rights, that is, to vote in the primary elections (CORREIO DA TARDE, 28/01/1860, p.2). It is observed that the concept of “citizens' rights” appears directly related to the right to vote. Mattos points out that the 1824 Constitution, recognizing the civil rights of Brazilian citizens, differentiated them according to their possessions through the census vote in three degrees: “the passive citizen (without enough income to be entitled to vote), the active voter citizen (with enough income to choose, through the vote, the voters' college), and the active citizen voter and eligible” (2000, p.20-21). The word “propagator” that makes up the name of the society could suggest the idea of helping “passive citizens” to become active through the aid provided by the institution. This explains why the critics accused these associations of being driven by electoral interests.

However, among the examples used to prove that the Propagated Society followed its statutes “by taking care of important business for the benefit of the parish”, appears the help to the sick, the delivery of alms and the proposal of professor Castilho about the need of opening private schools in the parish’s points that were out of reach of the public school:

This proposal, which was welcomed with general applause aims at a representation promoted by society, asking the government for measures that facilitate private education in areas away from the public school for all who can give youth the most indispensable elements of public education. (CORREIO DA TARDE, 28/01/1860, p.2).

Although the text does not inform the measures claimed, it is possible to infer that it took place through the subsidy of private schools for the teaching of poor children. The professor also offered the Society his services for the benefit of adult education. The presence of a professor as a partner of the institution, who made proposals to improve teaching in the locality, corroborated the legitimacy of the Society's activities - which could also be to use instruction as a means to “propagate citizens' rights” in the parish - as well as strengthening Castilho's name as a voter7 for the parish of Campo Grande, as occurred in 1861, the year following the founding of the Society (DIÁRIO DO RIO DE JANEIRO, 12/01/1861). In a note published in a widely circulated newspaper (CORREIO MERCANTIL, 01/27/1861, p.2), Castilho thanks the “parishioners” and friends who engaged in his election, demonstrating that there was a network of relationships that allowed him to sustain a candidate for voter in the rural parish where he lived and worked as a teacher.

The production of books: the method of reading and the catechism of Castilho

As well as the method “Bacadafá”8 by Antonio Pinheiro de Aguiar, the reading method by Francisco Alves da Silva Castilho, called “Escola Brasileira”, also stood out in the pages of the reports of the Ministers of the Empire and the Inspectorate, with the news of his rehearsal performed at the public school in the parish of Campo Grande.

Throughout his career in the teaching profession, Castilho also became the author of books, having published the following works: “Methodo para o ensino rapido e aprazivel de ler impresso, manuscripto e numeração, e descrever”, in 1850; “Methodo de leitura para o ensino dos meninos e adultos”, in 1863; “ABC de amor, ou methodo ameno de ensinar as moças, conforme o systema da Escola brasileira”, “Preliminares de grammatica” and “Grammatica pittoresca ou systema grammatical explicado pela arvore da sciencia”, in 1864; “O principio da sabedoria é o temor de Deos”, in 1872; and the “Manual explicativo do methodo de leitura denominado Escola brasileira” in 1859, the latter being the object of the present analysis.

In the report of the Minister of the Empire of the year 1857 there is the news of the test of the method elaborated by Castilho, bringing the following information9:

The same teaching method and system prescribed by the regulation continues to be followed in schools. The rehearsals of the reading method of the public teacher of the parish of Campo Grande, Francisco Alves da Silva Castilho, which, under the immediate direction of the author, has been taking place since last year in the schools of Santa Rita, Candelária and, lately, in a private room for that purpose, still have not yet produced enough decisive results to authorize its adoption or rejection. He says that he considered convenient that before any final decision, two schools exclusively governed by him, would be admitted with their regular march and the annual use of the respective students of final and decisive experience, making this measure all the more convenient, as if the results obtained then advise the general adoption of the referred method, it will be very important to have a governed school that serves as a norm and model for the transition; which, if not properly prepared, could cause serious inconvenience.

According to the report, in 1857 it was delegated that the testing of Castilho's method was carried out in two schools governed “exclusively” by the author, since the tests previously carried out in other schools, whose teachers only received Castilho's help, were not producing the results necessary for their adoption.

In the year 1859, the information brought in such reports gives the news that the referred method was no longer being tried due to the lack of printing, on the part of the author, of the copies needed for the final experience, evidence that the costs of printing were financed by the author himself. According to Schueler and Teixeira (2009), teachers interested in seeing their teaching methods and texts published and endorsed by the government went through great difficulties, as they needed to pay the costs of printing and editing as well as they should prove the usefulness and effectiveness of innovations: “Experimenting with students, public exposure and appraisal from peers, public teachers and other authorities were fundamental steps for a method or compendium to be adopted by the government” (SCHUELER; TEIXEIRA, 2009, p. 154).

According to the Sacramento Blake dictionary the method composed by Castilho would be “a new and special method for the division and order of the phonetic elements of the word and for the immediate reading, independent of alphabets and syllabaries”. For Philippe da Motta d’Azevedo Corrêa, it would be part of the “new spelling method”, along with those of “Valdetaro”10 and “Bacadafá”. According to Castilho himself, in an explanation given in the work, his method would consist of:

an insignificant modification of the alphabetical system, but its merit, or at least what it seems to me, is based on the immediate application of letters (which I also do not give as a new thing) and above all in the chain of a series of easy relative lessons to higher knowledge, starting from the teaching of letters to the current reading, passing through the classification, declension and grammatical construction of words, because this method, according to the plan, should be the elementary part of teaching grammar in schools; this was still reminiscent of João de Barros' method11, that passed through my eyes in the public library when I was studying grammar. This first part prepared the disciple for a second volume of graded reading, the progress of the disciple's instruction, in order to avoid in the elementary school the inequality of such a high step, as with the transition that is made from the last letter found at the end of the most common syllabaries because they are the cheapest and that the boys call it in schools, my friend's letter. Of which I will soon jump to the catechism or to the reading of fables (1859, p.8-9).

The work analyzed here was located in the rare books sector of the National Library. Dated of 1859 it has a total of 64 pages. Published by “Typographia de E & H Laemmert, it is offered to the class of teachers of first letters. According to Castilho himself, it was custom among the authors to look for a patron who would protect and recommend a particular work, however, he informs that he thought it best to address his colleagues. Despite this warning, Castilho ends up doing the same, because one of the requests made in this dedication to teachers was that “on behalf of our class I dedicate my reading method to the Hon. Mr. Counselor Eusébio de Queirós Coutinho Matoso Câmara as a frank tribute, but significant sample of our consideration and recognition of the services provided to the instruction and to our class” (1859, p.5).

In this presentation, the professor also explains that, due to the “Methodo Castilho - o Methodo portuguez”12, of which essays were being made and the arrival of his “illustrious author” to Rio de Janeiro to present and explain it in public sessions, he decided to change the name of his work “for another more sonorous and more meaningful - Escola Brasileira”. He also informs that he adopted this title with the intention that his “colleagues accepting it would want to tender under the same name with his works for the organization of the teaching system, nationalizing it by method and doctrine” (1859, p.8). Castilho's option seems to be effectively inserted in the nationalization intentions of school works underway in the period.

The author warns that “this method of teaching how to read may not be new, but at least I have not copied it from anyone, and what I might find here resembling something that already exists will be a coincidence that I do not have to shame as a plagiarist” (1859, p.9). This observation seemed to be a response to the possible criticism of plagiarism of the work of another author, perhaps of the Portuguese Castilho himself or even to the criticisms that could arise.

Castilho clarifies that his method was divided into a part “phonic” and a part “orthographic” and that two were the main elements that constituted a teaching method, the logical principle and the practical principle. The first would consist of coordinating the ideas that are offered to the spirit of the learner. The second, on the other hand, would be “a proper way of sticking the ideas that you want to convey to the disciple’s spirit”. It also clarifies that his method of reading would be a “synthetic-analytical method”, which could be practiced in any of the known ways, and that the process of the elementary part, could be divided into two periods, which would be:

1º reading; 2º writing; that the first period can still be subdivided into two stages, in school education: 1º collective reading in semicircles, 2º singular reading, that is, each in its own copy; finally you can say that the process of this method is compatible with the organization of any system in the practical sense, because in the logical sense it can be considered as a system, which for now only comprises the most elementary part of grammar (1859, p.20).

For Castilho, the application of his method would require a disposal in which, first, there was the organization of the classroom and school material; second, the organization of the class; and third, the teaching organization. About this last item, he said:

Suppose the class is divided into the two proposed groups (major and minor), each group occupying the side assigned to it (left or right); so that the first division (extended reading) occupies the first benches in front of the teacher, followed in graded order by the second division (natural reading), and finally the third division (current reading). Perhaps it would be appropriate for the teaching that this order be reversed for the reason that the disciples who form their class are closer to the teacher, and more distant are those directed by the monitors, however, as the students who form the first division are in general the smallest and the youngest in the school, these need to be protected by the teacher's neighborhood each disciple takes his place according to the degree of his merit (1859, p.52).

In saying that his method could be practiced in any of the known ways, Castilho wanted greater acceptance on the part of the professors, since, when teachers did not agree with the government's choices, they could resort to other methods, as informed by the Teachers Commission of 1873. At that time, winning over teachers could also bring him easier acceptance by the imperial government. However, while saying that his method could be practiced in any of the known ways, he states that, in order to apply it, that is, in order to obtain the expected results, it would be necessary to organize the classroom, school and teaching material, designating the position that each group should occupy.

In the organization intended by Castilho, we can perceive the existence of certain traits of mutual education with the division of students into different classes, according to the level of knowledge and merit, as well as the presence of monitors assisting teachers in their classes. According to Bastos (1999), the enthusiasm caused by this method would lie in the ease of maintaining the discipline it provided which seemed to be a central concern of Castilho, a concern that can also be understood as a need to affirm a model that distinguish it from the others.

Along with a certain concern with control, the author envisages each action to be developed by teachers and monitors in the five classes, as can be seen from the text shown in figure I. Such description demonstrates the intention of the control exercised over the teachers' performance, which becomes contradictory with the first promise of the possibility of freedom of the methods. However, the details of the practices to be followed by teachers and monitors described in his work, may have pleased government authorities, who wanted the greatest possible control over teachers, as Castilho's books were approved by the imperial government for use in classrooms13, information that was brought in the report of the Ministers of the Empire and the Inspectorate of the year 1877, in which there is a list of “Public teachers who have written educational work”.

Source: CASTILHO (1859)

Figure 1 Five class times proposed by Castilho in the teaching of reading 

Despite the approval of the imperial government, there was no consensus regarding the advantages brought by his teaching method, as we can see in Almeida's work (1889),

Serious objections were raised within the pedagogical conference, against the Castilho method, which, under the pretext of simplification, teaches to read and write with the help of words that the spelling excluded which later harms the student and prevents him from learning to write correctly (p.153).

Regarding the objections in the Pedagogical Conferences, Pires de Almeida was probably referring to Professor Manoel José Pereira Frazão, who, after Professor Castilho's presentation on his reading method, at the 1873 meeting, raised some criticisms of his system. According to the IGIPSC report of 1872 (published in 1873):

Professor Frazão, despite agreeing with Professor Castilho in the teaching of reading by the analytical method, disagrees with that teacher in the point where he departs from the orthographic accuracy in the teaching of reading and calligraphy, which seems to him very harmful for the boy, who will always remember more the first way he learned to write a word, even if incorrect, than what he is later taught, since it is true: also finds harmful the displacement of the order adopted in the letters of the alphabet, and the way in which some of them are pronounced by professor Castilho, since in that way they are adapted to his method (p.16).

The same report contains Castilho's answer to the question raised by his professional colleague, professor Frazão:

Mr. Castilho replies that he does not find it inconvenient to choose, in teaching, words of easy orthographic composition, and that they have to be written according to the articulated sound: which uses inversion in the natural order of the alphabet just to make it easier for the boy to know the letters, making him know first the letters whose shape is similar and then those whose sounds have an analogy and are closer to the way they sound in the word, being certain that his system has had advantageous results (p.16).

The oral debate held at the conferences becomes an example of the disputes between teachers/authors for the reaffirmation of their methods and positions. As Schueler and Teixeira warns us (2009), “the disputes between the methods, especially in the field of teaching reading and writing, revealed the tensions that involved the consecration of authors in the publishing market, at the time when the ‘nationalization’ of books, works and teaching materials was advocated” (2009, p. 154).

Professor Castilho undeniably endeavored to defend and publicize his method. As seen in the previous quote, the conference space was used to defend his ideas and also the pedagogical press of the period14, by sending part of his works to A Escola - Revista Brasileira de Educação e Ensino do Rio de Janeiro, in which he also acted as a copywriter, in order to advertise. Castilho seems to have achieved the desired space, since in the year 1877, an article about the author was published in the column “Imprensa”, which, among other things, praised one of his works and advised him to extend it:

We will not end these lines without saying to our colleague Castilho that we very much appreciate the part of his Preliminaries of Grammar that begins with the word article and ends on page 80; is very useful job and the Mr. professor would do well to give it more development and extension, keeping the form he has of entertainments or small conferences, to be able to serve not only the reading of the students, but also a guide to the mothers and fathers who teach to their children (1877, p.22).

Together with the praise for Castilho's work and the recommendation that he expand his work, the article's explicit use of the work stands out, as a “guide to mothers and fathers who teach their children”. We can perceive the existing opinion that the book could also function as an object of formation and shaping of the family, considered a strong ally of the imperial government in its civilizing project.

As part of his collection “Escola Brasileira”, Francisco Alves da Silva Castilho produced the book “O principio da sabedoria é o temor de Deos”, published by “Typographia Cinco de Março”, in the year 1872. With a total of 146 pages, in-8th format, green and hard cover, without the symbol of the Empire. Despite not having such a symbol, Castilho dedicates his work, together with the mothers of the family, to “His Imperial Majesty Mr. D. Pedro II ”, the Emperor of Brazil, offering him the first pages of his compendium, in order to present his “humble offering”, certain that:

you will not deign to accept at least the goodwill of those who can do nothing but express their desire to be useful, I also come on this occasion to present myself with this humble offering of mine that if Your Imperial Majesty deems it capable and worthy of the end for which it is destined, I may have the satisfaction of having participated in some way in this contribution. My offer is nothing more than a small series of moral lessons for the teaching of youth directed by mothers of families to whom the wisdom of God provided all the qualities of nature and true teacher of childhood through the empire of love and the sensibilities of youthful heart. No one better than Your Imperial Majesty will know the need to form popular education on the precepts of good morals and a philosophy within the reach of all intelligences so that men may know themselves, understand their duties and the vanity of a fruitful instruction does not fool them and it worsens even more than ignorance itself. I do not pretend, Lord, to have composed a book capable of meeting this need, nor do I suppose there is a lack of works wisely elaborated for this purpose, but each one has its own method and system; and that same difference in the method of my lessons, when it’s not worth it, is a circumstance that may perhaps have a favorable influence on the results of teaching. This is the thought that I hope for in this work undertaken with no other incentive than the desire to compete with my small share for the great work of popular education. May this offer reach the benevolent welcome of Your Imperial Majesty in order that with the powerful influx of your Sacred Name my book will be received favorably in the domestic bosom, and with the cooperation of the mothers of families, develop and bear fruit of the doctrine that ends in these small pages; for I believe that the good wishes of Your Imperial Majesty's heart with regard to popular education will have only been fully fulfilled when, under all roofs, the light of teaching as the candlestick of the poor and the lamp of the rich can shine. Therefore, Lord, if Your Imperial Majesty deign to lay eyes on these humble pages and judge my work worthy of your honorable acceptance, I wish that it be received with a small contingent of my contribution, consenting Your Imperial Majesty that I add to my book this page more in sign of the high favor and honor than for the sake of the instruction it requests.

Writings such as those of Castilho, covered with words of humility, submission and exaltation of the figure of the recipient, usually a superior and in the case of books, candidate for patron, were, as already noted, recurrent in documents relating to instruction in the 19th century. Such practice can be understood as a strategy of its senders for an easier acceptance of their requests, in search of a shorter way for the accomplishment of their projects. The regular use of this strategy demonstrates that the authors knew the rhetorical devices and the codes of civility, resorting to them in defense of their interests.

This book would be formed, according to the author, "to awaken the reflection of youth and to establish in their spirit the idea of God as the basis of morality and religion". Along with the dedication to the Emperor, it brings a prologue for “Fathers, mothers, youth educators” in which he presents an excerpt from the fourth letter of the work Da educação made by “the wise Viscount de Almeida Garret”15, which was recommended for those in charge of youth education and for those engaged in pedagogical matters. Castilho says he was inspired by the work of this author for the organization of his book. It also exposes a topic for “To the boys”, in which it presents an excerpt from the book of proverbs, preaching that the “Lord” would reserve salvation for those who were upright, as well as protecting those who walked in simplicity, the “Lord” being responsible for guarding the “paths of justice” and the one who would be on watch “over the paths of the Saints”.

Castilho's presentation and appropriation of other texts such as those by Garret and the proverbs before beginning his chapters, that is, before “speaking to you with my words”, can be understood as an attempt to affirm and legitimize his ideas, by trying to show the reader that they are compatible with those of other authors probably already recognized and accepted by the general public.

Through the seventy chapters it is possible to verify that Castilho dealt with various subjects that included, among other topics, the attributes of man (senses of the human body); virtues and defects; elements and phenomena of nature; and family, social and homeland duties. However, he shows concern to articulate them to the theme of morals and religion, as in the case in which he addresses the senses. According to the author, for example, with the ear, one should listen to and learn the doctrine of “those who instruct you”, because only then, it would be possible to make “good use of your ear” and please God. Still according to Castilho, feeling, thinking and speaking were the most sublime gifts we received “from our creator” and for which “we take advantage of all the most creatures on earth”.

When addressing themes related to nature, which for him “is the outer throne of divine magnificence”, he asserts that the one who contemplates and studies it would gradually rise “to the inner throne of the omnipotent”. In this way, the aforementioned author tries to convince his reader of the “wonders” done by God, seeking to prove his goodness and the need to demonstrate “the gratitude we should have for him”. About the chapters covered, Castilho points out:

Reconsidering all that I have said to you in the previous lessons, you will be able to deduce, my young readers that the world itself is a great school where nature is the teacher that the provision of Lord God has instituted to teach man to know his creator. The senses and thought are the means with which Divine Wisdom has enabled man to contemplate and reflect on all this variety of scenes that nature offers us as lessons, sometimes mild and pleasant as the laughing mornings of spring, other times, severe and terrible as the dreadful aspect of the storm. And everything must awaken your thinking and make you reflect on the weakness of the human being in the face of the high and tremendous power that in one “just do” would be able to transform the world and precipitate it into an abyss of horrors.

From Castilho's words, it is possible to see that one of the strategies used by him to persuade his reader to follow the recommendations of obedience to the doctrine of God was to convince him of the “sovereign power” of God, aiming at the fear of God. It is not a mere coincidence that his work is entitled, “The principle of wisdom is the fear of God”, evidence of his indoctrination proposal.

Castilho also speaks about the instruction that, for him, was a necessity of the spirit as well as food was necessary for the sustenance of the body. He makes a comparison with divine providence and argues that in the same way that God left seeds of plants to be cultivated for our nutrition, He also left doctrines that should be preserved by men, to be passed on through teaching to all generations. However, this doctrine could not be given by anyone, but with the help of a guide to direct its interpretation. He also warns about the risk that anyone would take if he thought qualified and despised the “wisdom of the interpreters of the Church” in the most difficult points, as he could go astray and get lost in the “labyrinths of error for not understanding the genuine meaning of the sacred text”.

To finish his work, Castilho addresses the mother of a family who, for him, would be the “true teacher instituted by the providence of God” and the only one capable of taking her son “only for love”. For the author, being the mothers the educators there would be a good acceptance of the doctrine and the advice would be engraved in the heart “with an indelible memory of your love”. However, Castilho does not fail to warn that even with this commitment, mothers could not fail to send their children to school, to receive instruction from the master there. Maternal responsibility would be limited to the moral part of education, with instruction being the task of the school master. As a way to convince them of the importance of such a function, he notes that their part would actually be the most important part of education because it is the one that can make children good and still make them happy.

Castilho's ideas were consistent with the imperial government's and the Catholic Church's instructional proposal, which sought to control the subjects' practices, taking instruction as a strategic measure. Castilho knew that in order for his book to be approved, it should be in accordance with the ideas of the representatives of power, not by chance, the similarity of opinions, such as, for example, the warning regarding the need for specific training for the teaching of religious doctrine and the defense of the partnership between school and family, delegating to mothers the role of moral and religious education.

Final considerations

In the 19th century, we observed that teachers used the available resources to assert themselves as agents of instruction and to participate in projects for the constitution of a model of school and teacher. The different modes of insertion of teachers in society such as participation in cultural, social and political associations comprised the strategies used. Castilho's role in the Sociedade Beneficente e Propagadora of the rights of citizens of the parish of Campo Grande took place using his condition as a teacher, an image that was triggered by the association when it needed to defend its suitability before society.

Thus, through Castilho's trajectory, it was possible to perceive the relevance of considering in the debates about school and teaching in the 19th century a set of aspects that refer to acts such as adhering, accommodating, resisting, translating and inventing, as suggests Escolano Benito (2011). Verbs spelled out from performances at school, in the press, in the authorship of books, in the invention of methods, in society and in politics.

Castilho, on the one hand, presented ideas consistent with the imperial government's proposal for instruction, as we noted in the production of school books and teaching methods. This is also evidenced in his appointment to the position of delegate of instruction in the parish of Campo Grande, thus becoming a representative of the Imperial State, on a local scale, in the supervision of schools in his parish.

On the other hand, he did not shy away from making severe criticisms to the government for the lack of progress in instruction and for blaming teachers for the delay in teaching. He also took a firm stand when the public school in which he taught was threatened with closure, producing tension with the inspector general of education Eusébio de Queiroz, the same that Castilho had praised when he was appointed to the post.

In this sense, professor Castilho together with other teachers of his time portray the different ways of exercising teaching, of debating and disputing educational ideas and of contributing, through their trajectories, performances and experiences, to the invention of the 19th century Brazilian school.

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THOMPSON, Edward. Costumes em comum - Estudos sobre a cultura popular tradicional. São Paulo: Companhia das letras, 2005. [ Links ]

VIDAL, Diana Gonçalves. A docência como uma experiência coletiva: questões para debate. In: DALBEN, Ângela; DINIZ, Júlio; LEAL, Leiva e SANTOS, Lucíola. (Orgs.). Convergências e tensões no campo da formação e do trabalho docente: didática, formação de professores e trabalho docente. Belo Horizonte: Autêntica, 2010, p. 711-731. [ Links ]

VILLELA, Heloísa. Da Palmatória a Lanterna Mágica: A Escola Normal da Província do Rio de Janeiro entre o artesanato e a formação Profissional (1868-1876). Tese de Doutorado, Faculdade de Educação, Universidade de São Paulo, 2002. [ Links ]

VILLELA, Heloisa. O mestre-escola e a professora. In: LOPES, Eliane; VEIGA, Cynthia; FARIA FILHO, Luciano M. 500 anos de educação no Brasil. Belo Horizonte: Autêntica, 2000, p. 95-134. [ Links ]

2During the visit procedure, the teacher is submitted to the inspection, which produces knowledge about the school and teaching, inscribing them in a visibility zone through the documentation produced by the delegate to be sent to superiors. Such knowledge associated with the exercise of writing comprised a diversified documentation, formed by letters, requirements and other types of documents (BORGES, 2008).

3AGCRJ, Codex 10.4.38, 26/09/1856, p.31 and 20/11/1856, p. 34.

4The dispute over the legitimacy of representation of the teachers' corporation can be seen, for example, through the pedagogical press in which “two newspapers [“A Instrução Pública ”and the “A Verdadeira Instrução Pública”] disputed the right to this representation and, more than that, they disputed the construction of the image of the teachers, producing speeches, building visions and representations of being a teacher, of the roles and behaviors that were being outlined ”(LEMOS, 2006, p.75).

5In Brazil, pedagogical conferences were established by Decree nº 1331, of February 17, 1854, which regulated the primary and secondary education of the Municipality of Court. However, it was only in 1872 that the government organized the special instructions provided for by decree nº 1331, to regulate the conferences, which came to occur in 1873. From then on, they were held with irregular frequency until the end of the 1880s (BORGES; GONDRA, 2005).

6Antonio Estevão da Costa e Cunha, Antônio Ignácio de Mesquita, Antônio José Marques, Augusto Cândido Xavier Cony, Cândido Matheus de Faria Pardal, Francisco Alves da Silva Castilho, Gustavo Alberto, Olympio Catão Viriato Montez and Phillipe de Barros.

7The 1824 Constitution established the minimum age of 25 years (21 for married, military, clergy and bachelors) and established the criterion of minimum annual income of 100 thousand réis per year to be a voter and 200 thousand to be a voter. After the 1846 reform, the calculation was made in silver, which was equivalent to twice those values.

8To learn more about the Bacadafá reading method, see Schueler (2002) and Teixeira (2008).

9You can also find this information in codex 15.3.20, p. 72, which contains a letter from Marques de Olinda to the Interim Inspector General of Public Instruction communicating that the Directing Council, to whom he informed the opinion of the Commission in charge of studies on the reading method of the public teacher of the Campo Grande parish Francisco Alves da Silva Castilho, as well as the process, the results and the details that occurred during the experiment, deemed the exclusive and interim adoption of this method in two public schools convenient, whose results compared with those obtained in other schools, “enable them to make a safe decision about their adoption”.

10To learn more about the Valdetaro method, see Albuquerque (2019).

11A study on João de Barros' booklet “Grammatica da Lingua Portuguesa com os mandamentos da Santa Madre Igreja” (1539) can be seen in Carvalho (2018).

12Portuguese method for teaching reading and writing developed by Antonio Feliciano de Castilho. It had significant repercussions in Brazil and was also rehearsed in public schools, as informed by the report of the Minister of the Empire of 1857.

13An investigation about the production, control and circulation of books in the schools of the Imperial municipality of the Court can be seen in Teixeira (2008).

14For an analysis of the pedagogical press of the time in Rio de Janeiro, see Teixeira (2016).

15João Baptista da Silva Leitão, later Viscount de Almeida Garret, was born in 1799, in the city of Lisbon, Portugal. He died on December 9, 1854. He was a romantic writer and playwright, Portuguese speaker, minister and honorary secretary of State.

Received: April 19, 2020; Accepted: July 24, 2020

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English version by Marina Natsume Uekane. E-mail: marina.uekane@gmail.com

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