Thomaz Espindola: Um alagoano e seus escritos sobre educação no Império brasileiro

Abstract

The Imperial period was marked by several attempts to standardize the Brazilian education, having the City of the Corte as the main model of inspiration. The creation of laws and decrees to put in place both the primary schools, the lyceum and normal school have served as examples of the interest in this ordination of educational training of that period throughout Brazil. Thus, this work aims to present a study on contributions of the teacher Thomaz Espindola (1832-1889) in the renewal of primary and secondary school in Alagoas. For this, were analyzed the writings of the author that are available to the public for consultation, emphasizing those related to schooling. Among the productions this author highlight: Geografia Alagoana ou Descricção Physica, Política e Histórica da Provícia das Alagoas (1871), Elementos de Geographia e Cosmographia offerecidos a Mocidade Alagoana, by Dr. T. do Bomfim Espindola (1885) and the Relatório da Instrucção Publica e Particular das Alagoas (1866, 1867 e 1878). These last writings deals with the low wages of teachers, the teaching methods that not have adapted very well to reality of Alagoas, and of bad teacher training, which result in the indisciplinary behavior of student. Certainly, the analysis of these works will enable the reader to understanding of the innovative thinking of Thomaz Espindola to formulate and circulate knowledge in the school institutions of Alagoas in the second half of the imperial period. Critical of the school in the Christian-Catholics molds, Espindola became a prominent intellectual, consulted to propose changes in the local teaching in different positions that occupied in education, as teacher of the Lyceum and General Director of Studies, in parliament, on condition provincial deputy in the legislatures of 1868-1871, 1878-1881 and 1881-1884 and in the Assembly, as President of the Province of Alagoas in the years 1867 and 1878. This has resulted in debates in the press, both of their sympathizers, as those enemies of his propositions. For this development, this project is based on the guidance of Marc Bloch (2001) while he collaborates with the reflection of the means used in the appropriation of the documentary sources. We also made use of thought of Certeau (2008), comprising that the writing and the author should to be seen together, because any intellectual production is defined by social place whose writes it. And finally, about the education in the Brazilian Empire, we selected writings of Gondra; Schueler (2008), which developed an analysis of the Brazilian school about the period lived by Espindola. Thus, we conclude that, as an intellectual, teacher, politician, journalist, lawyer and doctor of the century XIX, Thomaz Espindola helped to build a school oriented to the issues of his time, basing on scientific progress achieved at the time. The intent of this research, then, is to give visibility the contributions of this author to the scenario of primary education in Alagoas, as well as draw attention to the ideological profile of this man that occupied spaces of great political power in the province of Alagoas, and with the power to define the legal direction of education of the letters at the time, promoting strong repercussions for the century XX.