Teachers´ formation in the state of São Paulo

Teachers´ formation has been widely discussed, especially in the field of the History of Education in Brazil. Public and private formation institutions and their typologies, such as the Normal School, Non-Offical Normal School, Rural Normal School and Complementary School, pedagogical knowledge and practice, teachers´ associations, students and their organizations, school architecture and didactic material are the objects investigated under this topic.

Current article² deals with a particular moment in which Non-Official Normal Schools³ were acknowledged by the government of the state of São Paulo, Brazil. Through these institutions, the state increased the number of schools for teachers´ formation from 1927 onwards. This occurred due to the establishment of the Reform in Public Instruction under the aegis of Amadeu Mendes, general director of public instruction in São Paulo⁴. ^{Inoue (2015}) analyzed the schools´ establishment process and noted that several municipalities were the protagonists of the experience, regardless of having or not municipal primary schools. Non-Official Normal Schools, established and maintained by the municipality, had to collect tuition fees similar to private institutions. Official Normal Schools, established and maintained by the state, only collected a yearly matriculation fee in compliance to Decree 4,600 of the 30th May 1929, which regulated the 1927 reform⁵.

Current paper analyzes the state´s initiatives and the role of the municipality in the expansion process of the teaching profession. We will investigate the ways Normal Teaching in the state of São Paulo was disseminated as from the 1927 reform by equaling the Non-Official Normal Schools and the Official Normal Schools⁶. Our narrative is based on official sources, such as educational legislation (state and municipal), official documents (Relatório do Diretor Geral and the Anuário do Ensino of the state of São Paulo), newspapers (Correio Paulistano, O Estado de S. Paulo, O Linense and others) and such publications as Um Retrospecto (1930), by João Lourenço Rodrigues, Poliantéia Comemorativa do Primeiro Centenário do Ensino Normal do estado de São Paulo (1946), O Ensino Secundário e Normal do Estado de São Paulo (1949). Besides the above sources, we have delved into studies on the Official and Non-Official Normal Schools of the state of São Paulo within a determined period. Analysis is based on Chartier and his concept of representation according to which a given reality is constructed “by the interest of the group that form them. For each case, there is the necessary relationship of discourses with the position of those who use them” (1990, p. 17). Sources are investigated as from their documental nature and of their writers to understand the meaning constructed by the institution called the Non-Official Normal School.

The 1927 reform triggered the expansion of Normal Schools through “new urban nuclei in the state of São Paulo” which were established by the advance of coffee plantations and by foreign migration in the hinterland. As a consequence, the number of Non-Official Normal Schools increased significantly and surpassed the number of Official Normal Schools which remained the same till the end of the 1930s⁷. The law also benefitted municipalities of several regions that had demanded the opening of secondary schools. It seems that the only exception was Sorocaba which, due to the equivalence mentioned above, advanced with regard to the acknowledgement of the already extant municipal institution.

When the new regions in the state´s hinterland are analyzed⁸, it may be observed that the dissemination of public instruction is related to their population movement, urbanization and development. However, it was also related to local policies. Consequently, one cannot state that expansion occurred at the same rate in all the regions. The 1927 law, through its equivalence of private to public schools, provided primary teachers in the new urban nuclei trained in Non-Official Normal Schools established in these sites.

Private schools were regulated by the end of the 19^th century⁹, but with regard to teachers´ formation, the government of the state of São Paulo acknowledged only diplomas of official schools, namely the Escola Normal da Capital and Complementary Schools. Schools leavers of the Non-Official Normal Schools¹⁰ in the pre-equivalence period could be teachers in private schools and in municipal schools or they could accept provisional incumbencies as lay teachers. The unsuccessful act of the law that demanded the equivalence of Non-Official Normal Schools and Official Normal Schools date from 1900 at the House of Representatives of the state of São Paulo (^{TANURI, 1973}, p. 252-253).

Analysis of the measures to disseminate teachers´ formation in the state, beyond the model Escola Normal da Capital, boils down to three stages:

Current paper deals with the third instance. The equivalence of Non-Official Normal Schools to the Official Normal Schools in 1927 was an emergency measure to form teachers for primary schools in regions (rural areas) which were distant from urban centers. In fact, it was highly criticized by certain educators as a loss of quality in teachers´ formation. Our survey, however, shows that till the 1950s the municipal and private initiatives triggered the spread of Normal Schools in the state of São Paulo.

The official discourse on equivalence underscores that private and municipal agents were invited to participate and cooperate with the state administration in this “patriotic mission” to disseminate public instruction against illiteracy: to spread the light for progress. The light metaphor¹¹, largely used in the writings of the period¹² to defend basic schooling, refers to the struggle against illiteracy and the overcoming of ignorance (darkness) to reach modernity. The Republic considered the school as a symbol of modernity since through it progress would be build (^{CARVALHO, 2003}). Following Monarcha, in current study, the metaphor is employed for the school proper, or rather, the Non-Official Normal School.

Moreover, we would like to problematize the ways by which the collaboration between the state, municipal administration and associations private occurred because of the difficulty that several municipalities had to hire teachers who were willing to teach in difficult-to-reach areas and within poor budget conditions.

The Normal School, symbol of Modernity and socio-cultural progress (light) is underscored in the formation process of a new society. It would be an institution for teachers´ formation to teach illiterate people (darkness). Consequently, the 1920s were marked by several popular and intellectual vindications for the improvement and dissemination of the primary school, the product of several reforms in Public Schooling¹³ that tried to disseminate schooling and to eradicate illiteracy. One reform marks the third instance in the expansion of teacher formation referred above - the 1927 Reform in Public Instruction - with great transformations in the Normal School of São Paulo to disseminate primary schooling.

Activities of the state administration: the 1927 reform and the equivalence of the Non-Official Normal School

The 1927 reform aimed at equalizing schooling issues, particularly illiteracy, in the state of São Paulo, without any significant changes beyond making equivalent Non-Official Normal Schools, suppress special inspection positions, increase “the number of District Inspectors from 50 to 70” and “establish Supervising Inspectors of Non-Official Normal Schools with expenses (strangely) paid by the establishments themselves” (^{NERY, 2009}, p. 102). The Reform did not produce any polemical writings in the mainstream press. It reduced formation period from 5 to 3 years in Official Normal Schools¹⁴. In fact, these measures, considered emergency measures by the administration, aimed at forming sufficient teachers for the existing positions, since the number of lay teachers ¹⁵ and of isolated schools on the state budget was on the increase. According to ^{Tanuri (1979}, p. 187), a statement by the state´s president, Júlio Prestes, informed that between 14^th July 1927 and 30^th July 1928, the bill of 2,012 classes, with 889 teachers with diploma and with 1,123 lay teachers was footed by the state.

Equivalence was justified since the current ten Official Normal Schools¹⁶ failed to provide teachers to attend to demand. Several teachers with diploma did not participate in the government-run schools and other refused to go to hard-to-reach towns and villages. According to ^{Mendes (1929}, p. 46),

The ten official normal schools, with a yearly average of 345 student-teachers were insufficient to attend to schooling needs. Five thousand teachers were required so that the constitution would be complied with to provide instruction to 150,000 school-going children, without matriculation, in the state´s rural schools, with an average of 30 students per class. This number would be provided by official schools within a minimum period of six years.

According to data by Amadeu Mendes, deficit occurred because 2,156 rural schools were established in 1926 and several could not function due to lack of teachers. In his 1929 Report, he justifies equaling Non-Official Normal Schools by quoting a speech by Júlio Prestes on the costs for the maintenance of Official Normal Schools and the decrease in costs that Non-Official Normal Schools would provide.

The ten normal schools maintained by the state of São Paulo cost a yearly 5.500:000$000, which shows that Non-Official normal schools, which should have the same results as the official normal schools, may save 14.3000:000$000, disregarding expenses for their establishment, and could be applied in the dissemination of primary teaching (^{MENDES, 1929}, p. 58).

According to the General Director, so that the illiteracy rate would decrease, the number of primary schools had to increase, which, in turn, should be attended to by teachers formed in Normal Schools. For example, participants of Inquérito de 1926¹⁷ had already made it clear that they were contrary to new Normal Schools in the state. Lourenço Filho¹⁸ and Fernando de Azevedo¹⁹, who succeeded Amadeu Mendes as General Directors of Public Instruction and Teaching General Director, respectively, established stricter conditions to restrict equivalence.

Through equivalence, several Non-Official Normal Schools were established in several towns - in new and old urban nuclei - with the validation of the teaching diploma. Equivalence changed completely the educational scenario of the state of São Paulo when it distanced itself from the state´s monopoly.

Non-Official Normal Schools underwent supervision by the state administration through Supervising Inspectors. According to the 1927 Reform, these institutions had to comply with several conditions so that equivalence could be conceded: they had to be established and maintained by Brazilian citizens; teaching staff should be composed of Brazilian teachers; courses and program had to comply with those of Official Normal Schools; they had to be implanted in towns without Official Normal Schools; the professor of Pedagogy and Didactics had to be selected by the state; they had to have a minimum sum of 200$ (SÃO PAULO, 1927).

The above conditions on requirements for equivalence of Non-Official Normal Schools revealed the control by the state administration on the functioning and pedagogical formation of the institutions. It seems that the professor of Pedagogy and Didactics, trained in Official Normal Schools, would receive a warrant by the administration. He had also to supervise that pedagogical formation would be as close as possible to that taught in Official Normal Schools.

The newspaper Correio Paulistano (1930, p. 5) demonstrated that professor Antônio d’Ávila belonged to the teaching staff of the Non-Official Normal School Santa Cruz do Rio Pardo as a teacher of Psychology, Didactics and Arts. ^{Trevisan (2007}, p. 25) says that Antônio d´Ávila was trained as teacher at the Normal School of São Paulo in 1920. He started his teaching career in the region of Santa Cruz do Rio Pardo, in 1921, gave lessons in several schools and had different incumbencies till he was appointed professor of the Non-Official Normal School of Santa Cruz do Rio Pardo.

In the case of the Non-Official Normal School of Sorocaba, ^{Almeida (2015}) shows that professor Renato Sêneca de Sá Fleury - formed at the Normal School of São Paulo in 1912 - participated in the establishment of the Municipal High School and the Non-Official Normal School of Sorocaba, where he taught Pedagogy, Psychology and Didactics and other subject matters for 14 years since the establishment of the school till his retirement in 1942. According to ^{Messenberg (2012}, p. 57-58), after the 1930 Revolution, Renato Fleury was exonerated from his incumbency at the Non-Official Normal School of Sorocaba by the mayor. In 1931, he sat for an entrance exam and became the Supervising Inspector of the same institution. In the wake of the Fernando de Azevedo reform in 1933, he became chief of the Education Sector and started giving lessons on Pedagogy, Psychology and Didactics.

^{Bruschi (2005}) writes that professor Arcipestre Rugeri gave Pedagogy lessons in the Non-Official Normal School of Itápolis, in 1933. Information on the teacher was retrieved from the Livro Jubilar da Escola Normal da Capital, by João Lourenço ^{Rodrigues (1930}, p. 212), where he is shown to have been a student at the Normal School of Pirassununga in 1923. These facts reveal that conditions were complied with²⁰.

Another measure demanded by the Reform was the impossibility of making equivalent two Non-Official Normal Schools with boarding or non-boarding regime in the same municipality. The equivalent schools had to make a deposit every six month at the State Income Tax Office of a sum of money for the yearly salaries of the Supervising Inspector and of the Pedagogy and Didactics teacher (SÃO PAULO, 1927).

Teachers with diplomas by the Non-Official Normal Schools were also controled. They could give lectures in a town school after teaching 200 days in rural schools and they could be teachers in primary schools after 200 days in town schools or 400 days in rural ones. Such requirement was not demanded of teachers with Official Normal School diplomas (SÃO PAULO, 1927). These rules not only hierarchized the diplomas, but it was an attempt to fulfill the suggestions of Amadeu Mendes to provide difficult-to-reach primary schools with formed teachers.

An item that should be underscored to understand the History of Teachers´ Formation is the poor physical and pedagogical conditions of the Normal Schools including the Official ones. There are references to monetary campaigns²¹ in several places to guarantee their maintenance and functioning. This fact has been made clear by ^{Bruschi (2005}) in his dissertation on the Non-Official Normal School of Itápolis and by ^{Almeida (2015}) in his thesis on the Non-Official Normal School of Sorocaba.

The control of Non-Official Normal Schools became stricter during the Amadeu ^{Mendes administration. The 1929} Decree n. 4,600, which regulated the 1927 Reform, determined more rigorous conditions for equivalence to guarantee quality of teaching according to requirements of the General Director of Public Instruction.

The increase in the number of Non-Official Normal Schools was a source of concern for educators and legislators on education of quality. When Amadeu Mendes retired, professor Lourenço Filho (1930-1931) took over the General Directorate of Public Instruction and suspended the equalization of all Normal Non-Official Schools. According to ^{Peres (1966}, p. 14), during his administration, Lourenço Filho “revoked the equalization of the Non-Official Normal Schools to submit them to stricter and more efficient legal provisions, giving them an organization more consistent with the interests of teaching”.

Further, besides being submitted to inspection, Decree n. 4,794 of December 1930, determined that equalization of a Non-Official Normal School could be obtained when it was established and maintained by national or municipal associations; directed by Brazilians; complied with the programs of the Official Normal Schools; functioned on a premise with hygienic and pedagogical conditions; had adequate furniture, a Physics and Natural Science cabinet, specialized library and educational material; with an attached primary school course for pedagogical practice; paid the costs of the entrance exams and other examinations provided through government-appointed boards; had at least 15 students per class; so that classes may be authorized, 14:400$000 (fourteen contos and four hundred thousand reis) should be deposited in the state treasury to pay the supervising inspector (São Paulo, 1930).

Due to these stringent measures during the Lourenço Filho administration, some Non-Official Normal Schools had to close, although documents have not been found to evidence how the activities of these schools ceased. The Annuario de Ensino do estado de São Paulo (1935-1936) reports that only 48 of the 51 Non-Official Normal Schools 1930 requested teaching equalization. The request was conceded to 35 schools only.

The first batches of teachers of the Non-Official Normal Schools were formed in 1930. According to ^{Rodrigues (1930}, p. 316-317), the schools had trained 816 teachers, whereas the Official Normal Schools formed 1,167. Although the number of Official Normal Schools was smaller, they trained more teachers than the others during that specific year. This fact may have been the reason why lay teachers were exonerated during the Lourenço Filho administration by Decree n. 4,780 of November 28, 1930. The Annuario de Ensino do estado de São Paulo (1935-1936) reports that Lourenço Filho laid down approximately 1,044 lay teachers during his administration. ^{Souza (2009}, p. 187) states that

Within the context of rationalization and moralization of public service, the director exonerated all lay teachers (1,044 teachers) hired from 1927 onwards. He analyzed the location of the state’s vacant schools and made available public exams for graduate teachers. The measure caused great controversy and discontent among teachers, but was justified by the Director as an initiative taken in the good interest of teaching in order to eliminate anomalies, such as political interference with regard to the location of schools and on teacher appointments without any adaptation to the needs of the school system and the favoring of lay teachers to the detriment of qualified professionals.

On November 30, 1930, the O Estado de S. Paulo reported (p. 4) the dismissal of all lay teachers who had been admitted as an emergency measure by the 1927 Reform. “The Provisional Government yesterday decided to dismiss all lay teachers who were in charge of urban and rural schools in the state”.

In spite of educators´ concern and despite stricter measures to make equivalent Non-Official Normal Schools, their expansion occurred in the 1950s, when the expansion of Education Institutes in the state´s hinterland started by the end of 1951. Thus, the 1927 “emergency measure” continued for several decades. In fact, it was an opportunity for thousands of young people to study, especially in new urban centers where secondary schools were not available.

Non-Official Normal Schools and municipal participation

The demands for the establishment of public schools in several places in the early 20^th century focused on teacher formation schools, besides the installation of primary ones (^{DINIZ; SOUZA, 2019}, p. 98). Such claims may have contributed towards the institutions’ equalization. Consequently, municipalities were particularly keen in the process of the expansion of Normal Education. The particularities of each region will be investigated.

In Lins, a city in the western region of the state of São Paulo²², the newspaper O Linense²³ (1928, p. 2) published a note on the establishment of the Non-Official Normal School of Lins on 14th May 1928:

We know that influential members of our community and prominent politicians are considering the establishment of a Non-Official Normal School, through the participation of the municipality.

The idea merits the highest praise since it is notoriously a need with significant effects. Our city has a privileged condition for such an endeavor, due to it being a unique center in the region, with important geographic expression.

When the authors of this great idea materialize such an entrepreneurship, they will be perpetually linked to the story of Lins, as benefactors. Our applauses are due to such a noble initiative and we hope that its materialization will occur in the very near future.

The above report in the newspaper O Linense builds up a narrative for the establishment of the Non-Official Normal School in Lins through the activities of the local administration. The Normal School meant progress in a region where development was incipient and schools and teachers had to be available for the growing population so that progress would reach its peak. The note also reveals that there were expectations for the establishment of the Non-Official Normal School of Lins. The institution was maintained by the municipality until 1938 when it was transferred to the Diocesan College as Non-Official Normal School Our Lady Help of Christians and became the high school´s women’s department. Municipal financial difficulties in maintaining the school triggered its transfer to the private sector.

There was no evidence in Santa Cruz do Rio Pardo on demands for the establishment of a Non-Official Normal School. Similar to other cities, the acknowledgement of its importance for cultural and economic development was manifested in the local newspapers. The Normal Non-Official School of Santa Cruz do Rio Pardo was installed by the municipal administrated in 1928 and its activities began in 1929. It was transformed into the Official Normal School of Santa Cruz do Rio Pardo on June 6, 1939. The Santa Cruz Jornal reported the graduation of the first batch of teachers of the Normal Non-Official School of Santa Cruz do Rio Pardo.

-“In current year, we will have the first batch of teachers”.

-“Fifteen young women will receive the diploma - the most honorable award in teaching in our city - raising the name of the school and disseminating what they have learned to other towns and cities.”

-“Why should not the Normal School be always the social heritage of our city, or rather, a nursery of young intelligent women that abound in the municipality?” (Ano I - nº 1, 29/05/19[31], p. 1, apud ^{PRADO; SATO, 2013}).

Although the note intimated some problem related to the continuity of the Normal School´s activities, no further information was found.

The municipal initiative in Bauru was also relevant for the establishment²⁴ of the first institution of teacher formation in the city. In fact, in 1929, the municipality transferred the Non-Official Normal School Gomes Duarte to a private institution called Guedes de Azevedo High School. The institution became extinct and no documents are available for the 1920s and the 1930s in the Archives of the Teaching Directorate of Bauru that could give some hints on the issue²⁵.

Clues and investigations on the history of other Non-Official Normal Schools in São Paulo make us hypothesize that the Normal Non-Official Schools of Santa Cruz do Rio Pardo, Lins and Bauru faced financial difficulties in maintenance and, consequently, they were transferred to the state and to private educational institutions. In fact, the municipalities already invested part of their resources in the acquisition of plots of land and in the construction of buildings for Isolated Schools and Primary Schools, as reported in several publications (^{Honorato; Nery, 2019}, ^{Diniz; Souza, 2019}). Other municipalities maintained their municipal primary schools (^{Sandano, 2009}). It may be the reason why certain municipalities had difficulty in maintaining specific institutions.

Other studies have shown the important role of the municipalities of São Paulo in the expansion of Normal Schools. The Mackenzie Non-Official Normal School in Araraquara was also established and maintained by the municipality for at least a decade. In 1926, the municipality took over the administration of a private college that was renamed Gymnasio Municipal Mackenzie de Araraquara. In 1928, the Normal School was established and attached to the high school. According to ^{Antonio e Souza (2014}), the date of its closure is uncertain but there are hints that the last year of its activities was in 1939.

The Non-Official Normal School of Itápolis was founded by Municipal Law n. 85, on August 30, 1929, and made equivalent to official normal schools in the same year. The local press enthusiastically reported the new institution that would benefit the population of the region and bring to Itápolis the warrant of cultural modernity.

The City Council announces the approval of the “relevant project of councilors Eugênio de Paula and Venâncio de Oliveira Machado”, authorizing the establishment of the Non-Official Normal School of Itápolis, under the immediate patronage of the City Council (O JORNAL DE ITÁPOLIS, 17/08/1929, p. 2, apud ^{BRUSCHI, 2005}, p. 53).

According to ^{Bruschi (2005}), in spite of the difficulties and interruptions of activities, the Non-Official Normal School of Itápolis was maintained by the municipality until 1947, when it was made official by the state government.

Research by ^{Lima (2005}), ^{Sandano (2009}) and ^{Almeida (2015}) on the Non-Official Normal School of Sorocaba shows that, since the early years of the 20^th century, the population of the city demanded the establishment of a teacher training college to meet local needs. However, the installation of the Normal School was only achieved with the 1927 Reform by municipal initiative. Although the institution experienced serious difficulties listed by Almeida (2015) such as adapted premises, lack of laboratories necessary for teacher training according to the legislation and financial difficulties, it functioned from 1929 to 1967, maintained by the municipality. In fact, in 1967, it was transformed into a Municipal Educational Institute Dr. Getúlio Vargas. The local press reported the installation of the Normal Non-Official School of Sorocaba with enthusiasm.

Three relevant improvements to Sorocaba - Due to the efforts of traditional politicians who appropriately took over the administration of Sorocaba and through the goodwill of the people who supported the noble initiatives of the directory, our city, which has always had the great advantage of a Municipal High School, in full and constant progress, will soon count with two relevant improvements, namely, the Non-Official Normal School and the Professional School. The Non-Official Normal School, which will function in consonance with the High School, will start its activities on February 1^st of next year. In due course, registration for the entrance exam will be announced. Duly authorized by the directory, we may inform interested parties that it is advisable to start preparing candidates so that they would have time to sit for the exam and, consequently, may contact Mr. João Machado de Araújo, the worthy director of the High School. As soon as our municipal councilors take office, the High School and the Normal School will be transferred to the municipal administration. They will be warranted by the state administration (JORNAL CORREIO DE SOROCABA, 11/11/1928, apud ^{ALMEIDA, 2015}, p. 71-72).

Sorocaba may be underscored for its significant municipal investment in secondary education through High School and the Non-Official Normal School.

Other research works on Non-Official Normal Schools maintained by particular associations or religious orders evidence the requirements to establish properly equivalent Normal Schools in several cities. However, it is important to elucidate the role of municipalities in the process of expansion of Normal Education that, although certain schools were established and maintained by private associations or religious orders²⁶, it is not possible to exclude the partial involvement of the municipal administration in their establishment and maintenance.

The local press in Ribeirão Preto, in a highly developed region in the state of São Paulo, published this note:

Ribeirão Preto is the only city in the hinterland where it is absolutely urgent to establish a normal school for several reasons we have already brought forward and which cannot reasonably be contested. In spite of its urgency, the government has always refused this small benefit to the municipality which most contributes towards the state’s budget (JORNAL “A CIDADE”, 09/10/1911, p.1, apud ^{FURTADO, 2007}, p. 70).

In spite of such demands, the first Normal School was only installed in 1928 by the Teaching Association of Ribeirão Preto²⁷, and, whilst the second institution was established in 1930, attached to the Santa Ursula College, maintained by the French Congregation of Ursuline Sisters (a Catholic religious order). According to ^{Furtado (2007}), all these institutions were private. The former was a comprehensive school and the latter catered for the education of girls.

^{Nascimento (2016}, p. 55) says that since 1914, Santos, another developed region, was discussing the establishment of an Official Normal School. However, due to the absence of an official institution, Non-Official Normal Schools were responsible for teacher training in the region. They comprised the Santista Female High School, established in 1902 by the Female Association of Beneficence and Instruction²⁸ and by the Non-Official Normal School of Santos, established and maintained by the José Bonifácio Instruction Association, in 1928.

According to ^{Nascimento (2016}, p. 48), the establishment of the José Bonifácio Instruction Association, which maintained the Normal Non-Official School in Santos, was attached to the former School of Commerce (1907-1917) founded and maintained by the city of Santos. Despite the demise of the School of Commerce, Resolution n. 159 of the city council (1917) demonstrates funding of the Non-Official Normal School of Santos by the municipality.

In his Dissertation on the Liceu Feminino Santista, ^{Campos (2018}) confirms that the Liceu was the first teacher formation institution in Santos, founded in 1902. The Female Association for Beneficence and Instruction also founded and maintained maternal schools for underprivileged children and the Liceu Feminino was focused on women’s education and teacher training for the above-mentioned schools, due to the city´s lack of teachers. The Female High School also received municipal and state funds for its maintenance. It not only admitted poor students but also children and young people of the elite society due to its prestige (p. 41). Owing to financial difficulties, gratuity was maintained till 1930, when it started to charge tuition fees and tuition of families who were able to pay for their daughters’ education. Equalization of the Liceu Feminino Santista to the Normal School of São Paulo was first requested to the state Assembly in 1905. According to the author, the equivalence was not obtained after the 1927 Reform. Legislation maintained that only one Non-Official Normal School could be equated in each municipality under the boarding school or external regimes. The Non-Official Normal School of Santos, established and maintained by the José Bonifácio Instructional Association, had already obtained equivalence during that period. Although High School students could teach in the municipal schools of Santos, enrollment decreased and teacher training was closed in 1939 since the institution was not made equivalent²⁹.

The establishment of the 1927 Reform at the start of 1928, conceded equivalence to 26 Non-Official Normal Schools - 2 schools in the capital city and 24 schools in the interior of the state -surpassing the number of Official Normal Schools. Eight and four Non-Official Normal Schools were made equivalent respectively in 1929 and in 1930. The state now totaled 48 Normal Schools - 10 Official Normal Schools and 38 Non-Official Normal Schools³⁰. Table 1 presents a survey of municipal Non-Official Normal Schools established between 1928 and 1930, a result of current research³¹.

The table above shows that municipal initiatives on the establishment of Non-Official Normal Schools were significant in the regions of Paraíba Valley (Mogi das Cruzes, São José dos Campos and Taubaté), North (Itápolis, Mirassol, Franca, São Simão) and the western region with new urban centers.

Final considerations

The 1927 Reform triggered the expansion of the Normal School Education to disseminate primary education. In other words, beneath the project to expand the Normal Schools, another project to disseminate primary schools was also endeavored, which, consequently, brought progress to the new urban centers. It is important to highlight that the dissemination of Normal Schools in the hinterland of the state of São Paulo was an opportunity for several young people to expand their studies and obtain a profession. Normal Schools admitted students from poor families, who sought social promotion, and students from wealthy families, who also sought intellectual training.

Research analyses on Non-Official Normal Schools in the state of São Paulo raised several issues on the process of expansion of Normal School. The establishment of Official and Non-Official Normal Schools seems intertwined, due to relationship and political interests, with the articulation between local leaders and state authorities, and due to the needs and demands of the schooling population. Consequently, ^{Tanuri’s insistence (1979}) that the expansion process of normal schools has been accelerated and disorganized is highly pertinent.

It should be highlighted that the expansion process was not homogeneous in all regions of the state and the cultural, economic and demographic characteristics have to be carefully considered. The dissemination of Normal Schools may have taken different paths among urbanized regions (with old and populous cities) and regions still within the population settlement process (new urban centers).

In the wake of such transformations in the education situation of the state of São Paulo, it is important to emphasize that it was a unique moment for the dissemination of Normal Schools when the state monopoly was ruptured and the municipal and private initiative took the lead. During this third moment in the expansion of teacher formation, municipal initiatives played a fundamental role when they established Non-Official Normal Schools, even if, initially, they were frequently not successful. Another issue that need be highlighted is the interest by municipal councils and administrators to provide schools with properly trained teachers through Official or Non-Official Normal Schools.

In the wake of the impossibility of expanding Normal Schools at the same level as existing ones, the reformers maintained only the superiority of the Normal School of the capital city, reduce all the others and open the way to the municipal and private initiative so that they would contribute, voluntarily or involuntarily, to the expansion of Normal Schools. Since lay teachers were removed in 1930, this fact shows that partially the 1927 Reform began to reap several rewards. We would also like to emphasize that the Reform permitted several municipalities to have a Secondary School, since few were extent in the state of São Paulo.