ABSTRACT
The aim of the article is to problematize the contents that emerge from documentary sources on primary education in the imperial period in Maranhão Province in the light of the concepts of the theory of school material culture. The study is supported by the theoretical-methodological contributions of Cultural History and is operationalized on two fronts: the literature review on the subject in question and the location, identification and analysis of sources from the Public Archive of Maranhão that help us understand the local culture, the school culture of primary education institutions and the cultural material school through laws, regulations, decrees, approvals and veto. The actions of the provincial presidents and the inspectors regarding the local primary education expressed in the reports and letters are verified, assessing the power of management in decisions to open and close schools, appoint and dismiss teachers, open competitions, set up chairs and demand teaching methods; specific cultural practices established between imposition strategies and appropriation tactics. We analyze the acts that guide primary education and identify conceptions, practices and positions regarding instruction, enabling interpretations of signs, meanings and meanings that guide school and social practices in a pedagogical, sociological and political approach as a cultural dimension of cultures and material culture according to their nature and function.
Keywords:
Primary Instruction; School cultures; School material culture; Maranhão Empire