Space, Knowledge and School Time in the Reports of Public Instruction and the Particular Alagoas Province, Brazil (1866-1868)

Abstract

This study analyzes the context of space, knowledge and school time present in the public and private education reports of the province of Alagoas, written by the physician Thomaz do Bomfim Espindola (1832-1889) in the 19th century. These reports were the result of his role as Inspector General of Studies in the years 1866 to 1868. These writings include themes such as poor teacher qualifications, poor application of learning methods, abandonment of physical education, moral education, and religious education. quantitative figures on the number of private and public primary and secondary schools, teacher hiring, replacement and dismissal, among other subjects. As a member of the Liberal Party of Alagoas, Espindola held the positions of provincial deputy from 1860-1861, 1864-1865 and 1866-1867, deputy general from 1878 to 1881 and from 1881 to 1884, and interim president in the same province in 1867 and 1878. In Education, he worked as a teacher of Geography, Chronology and History at the Alagoas High School, Hygiene at the High School of Arts and Crafts and Philosophy at São Bernardo High School. He was consulted to propose changes in Brazilian education by drafting the opinions of the «Reform of Primary Education and Various Complementary Institutions of Public Education» (1882) and the «Reform of Secondary and Higher Education» (1883) together with Rui Barbosa and Ulysses Vianna. Therefore, the analysis of the theoretical relationships of space, knowledge and school time of public and private education in the province of Alagoas contributes to the understanding of the advances and the limits of the school formation of the Brazilian Empire.