Reconstrução histórica do Curso Normal da Escola Americana de São Paulo (1889 - 1933): internato de meninas, uma leitura de seu cotidiano e da instrução e educação feminina aí ministradas

Abstract

The American School was founded in 1870 by the Rev. George Whitehill Chamberlain. The first classes had been taught by Mary Annesley, Mr. Chamberlain's wife, at the couple's home in Sao Paulo City. Having the supervision and the financial support of the Board of Trustees of New York "the little school" has developed and in the course of time it has obtained popular acceptance for receiving pupils of both sexes, no discriminating colour, race, creed and status, and so because of the new pedagogical methods that had been introduced as silent reading, intuitive teaching and the stimulation of the reasoning. The educational plan that had been approved by the Board in 1876 has included a Normal Course in order to prepare teachers for the own institution. In 1885 this school was already composed of Kindergarten, Primary Course, Intermediate Course, Secondary Course and Superior Course. In this work I make the reconstruction of the American School's Normal Course from 1889 (the foundation year) to 1933 (at this time the Norma! Course was interrupted in order to fitting in with the new Brazilian legislation of teaching (The Francisco Campos Reform). In order to accomplish this purpose, in the first chapter, I recompose the structure and the functioning of the American School (1870) and Mackenzie College (1894), from which the Presbyterian Mackenzie Institute was originated. In the second chapter I present a reading of the Protestantism (the Presbyterian version), which has formed the conception of education's base of this school. In the third chapter by analysing The Reports to the Trustees and The Annual Letters to Parents I recompose the Institution's educational principles and purposes. In the fourth chapter I recompose the aspects of the structure and functioning of the Normal Course in order to discover who were the girls that chose the teaching profession and what kind of instruction was offered to them. In the fifth chapter I present the Girls' Boarding School which was a joined building and a continuation of home that completed the girls'formal education in the ethical, moral, cultural, religious and social aspects by impressing on these girls behaviored rules connected with the protestant Christian moral principles. The theme of this dissertation of Mestrado leads to Feminine Education and Instruction (1889-1933) and it intends to bring by the research work some contribution for the history of the school institutions in Brazil