REVOLUTION AND EDUCATION: CONNECTIONS BETWEEN LEARNING FOR LIFE AND UTILITARIANISM IN SECONDARY EDUCATION

Abstract

This article aims to examine the political rationales articulated around the proposed restructurings of Brazilian secondary education in the first half of the 20th century, based on the curricular propositions expressed in the teaching programs found in the work Theoria e pratica de ensino secundário, published in 1935, which represents the empirical material of the research. The methodology used was documentary analysis, according to Cellard (2012), combined with the epistemic and methodological contributions of Certeau (1994). The renewal of the teaching programs, the structuring axis of the national reconstruction process based on the precepts of the New School movement, was grounded in the reformist and modernizing ideal of society, justified by the needs imposed by a "changing civilization" (Kilpatrick, 1964, p. 11). This process was marked by profound clashes between two distinct perspectives, characterized by an emphasis on classical humanist education and scientific education. In this scenario, the research results indicate that the new curricular proposals contained in the teaching programs are articulated around two central assumptions, which can be summarized in the emphasis on education for life and utilitarianism, elements that assumed centrality to guide the process of renewal and modernization of education, in the face of criticisms of traditional education, also influencing the didactic-methodological definition designed for secondary education in the period in question.