Acessibilidade / Reportar erro

“Introducing yourself as an observer of rural education”: the itinerary, calendar and map of lourenço filho in Mexico (1947 - 1951)

ABSTRACT

This text aims to understand Manoel Bergstrom Lourenço Filho work agenda and itinerary in Mexico, between 1947 and 1951. The gateway to the development of this text was the two trips of this Brazilian educator inserted in a movement of ideas and subjects in congresses, printed matter, recommendations, and documents guiding educational policies, carried out by the United Nations Educational Organization, Science and Culture (UNESCO). It is, therefore, an investigation about the circulation of ideas that guided rural education in Brazil, at a time when Mexico was placing itself as a successful reference in rural education in all Latin America. Regarding the theoretical-methodological options, it is a historical work with the methodology of Connected History, centred on documentary and bibliographic research. Reports, newspapers, magazines, photographs, and correspondence are taken as sources. Finally, it can be concluded that Lourenço Filho two trips to Mexico fulfilled an institutional work plan, especially on the occasion of the Second UNESCO General Conference and the I meeting of the Inter-American Cultural Council, in addition to touring the country in search of observing rural education experiences.

Keywords:
Rural Education; UNESCO; Lourenço Filho; Mexico; Brazil

RESUMO

Este texto tem por objetivo compreender a agenda de trabalho e o itinerário de Manoel Bergstrom Lourenço Filho no México, no período de 1947 e 1951. A porta de entrada para o desenvolvimento deste texto foram as duas viagens deste educador brasileiro inserido em um movimento de ideias e de sujeitos em congressos, impressos, recomendações e documentos norteadores das políticas educacionais, levados a cabo pela Organização das Nações Unidas para a Educação, a Ciência e a Cultura (Unesco). Trata-se, portanto, de uma investigação acerca da circulação de ideias que nortearam a educação rural no Brasil, em tempos em que o México se colocava como referência exitosa de educação rural para toda a América Latina. Em relação às opções teórico-metodológicas, trata-se de um trabalho histórico com metodologia da História Conectada, centrada na pesquisa documental e bibliográfica. Toma-se como fontes: relatórios, jornais, revistas, fotografias e correspondências. Por fim, pode-se concluir que as duas viagens de Lourenço Filho ao México cumpriram um plano de trabalho institucional, especialmente por ocasião da II Conferência Geral da Unesco e da I reunião do Conselho Interamericano Cultural, além de percorrer o país em busca de observar as experiências de educação rural.

Palavras-chave:
Educação Rural; Unesco; Lourenço Filho; México; Brasil

Introduction

My dear and fine friend,

Miss Isabel de Prado was kind enough to give me, together with the attentive letter that you entrusted to her on July 2, a copy of his excellent work ‘Rural Education in Mexico’, that I have read with keen interest and found various references - extremely generous - to my work as Secretary of Public Education in my country and to the work that I was then able to develop regarding the organization of the national campaign against illiteracy. For all this I want to express my warmest appreciation.

I have been very interested in the intelligent way in which your monograph sheds light on the true meaning that UNESCO understands by fundamental education and the clarity with which it shows how Mexico - according to you yourself indicated in your letter - did this kind of education ‘avant la lettre...’

I am sure that your study will arouse positive interest among those who have realized the importance of fundamental education in a world in which more than half of humanity is still illiterate. And I assure that your presence at the head of the Brazilian Institute of Education, Science and Culture will strengthen, in this and other matters, the links that exist between your great and noble country and the Organization that I have the honor to lead in the actuality.

Jaime Torres Bodet

(BODET, 1952BODET, Jaime Torres. [Correspondência]. Destinatário: Manuel Bergström Lourenço Filho. Paris, 22 jul. 1952. 1 cartão pessoal., p. 1).

The letter, which opens this text, crossed the Atlantic. Written in Paris, by the Mexican Jaime Torres Bodet, on July 22nd, 1952BODET, Jaime Torres. [Correspondência]. Destinatário: Manuel Bergström Lourenço Filho. Paris, 22 jul. 1952. 1 cartão pessoal., who at the time was general diretor of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), it was addressed to Manoel Bergstrom Lourenço Filho. In the contents of the letter, the sender made glowing comments on the report “Rural Education in Mexico”, built by the recipient, during his trip to Mexico in 1951. In the 27 typewritten lines there is a diplomatic and cordial tone, as the author mentions the established links between the work developed by the Brazilian professor, with the Brazilian Institute of Education, Science and Culture (IBECC) and the purposes released by UNESCO. In this sense, this letter is emblematic for the unfolding of a complex historical plot, marked by the circulation of ideas, subjects, practices, quotations, references, appropriations, translations and circumscribed travels in the Brazil/Mexico space.

This text derives from the thesis “Continental Radiation”: circulation of educational models for rural education in the Brazil-Mexico space (1940-1950) and from the National Project Training and Work of Rural Teachers and Teachers in Brazil: RS, PR, SP, MG , RJ, MS, MT, MA, PE, PI, SE, PB, RO (40s to 70s of the 20th century), with the aim of understanding the work agenda and itinerary of Lourenço Filho in Mexico, as part of an exchange of policies and ideas promoted, above all, by the Inter-American Cultural Council and by UNESCO. The two trips fulfilled an institutional work plan, respectively on the occasion of the II General Conference of Unesco (1947) and the I meeting of the Inter-American Cultural Council (1951).

Regarding the theoretical and methodological options, this text is based on the assumptions of Connected History. This historiographical reference consists of a theory/method that establishes connections through the opening of the dialogue. In this sense, we assume the task of the historian in charge of “[...] exhuming historical connections or, rather, to be more exact, exploring connected histories.” (GRUZINSKI, 2003GRUZINSKI, Serge. O historiador, o macaco e a centaura: a “história cultural” no novo milênio. Estudos Avançados, São Paulo, v. 17, n. 49, p. 321, set./dez. 2003. Disponível em: https://www.scielo.br/j/ea/a/BJNxbpzhPKCfRSYFmNHq5hg/?lang=pt. Acesso em: 7 jun. 2022.
https://www.scielo.br/j/ea/a/BJNxbpzhPKC...
, p. 19). To do so, we had to become a: “[...] kind of electrician in charge of re-establishing international and intercontinental connections.” (GRUZINSKI, 2003, p. 19). The metaphor of the electrician, in charge of reestablishing international and intercontinental connections, offered by the French historian Serge Gruzinski, is used to connect a web of relations about rural education in the Brazil/Mexico space. From this, we formulated some questions: What did Lourenço Filho’s trip to Mexico mean? Which way did he go? What are the traces of his passage?

“Master of the Americas”: the routes of Lourenco Filho in Mexico

The “Master of the Americas” (MONARCHA, 2018MONARCHA, Carlos. Lourenço Filho: a obra de uma vida, a vida numa obra. In: BATISTA, Eraldo Leme; ORSO, Paulino José; COSTA, Bruno Botelho. (org.). Os intelectuais e a defesa da educação brasileira. 1 ed. Uberlândia: Navegando Publicações, v. 1, p. 13-26, 2018., p. 19) is the title that was given to Lourenço Filho for his knowledge of the education systems in Latin American countries, for his projection in the most diverse areas of intellectual production and in the most distinguished governmental bodies, in the 1920s and 1960s. Certainly, an expressive time in this teacher’s career, especially when he headed the Adolescent and Adult Education Campaign (AAEC), developed between the years 1947 and 1963. He was one of the exponents of liberal intellectuals to determine the direction of rural education in Brazil in the 20th century, especially through his work with multilateral organizations, with the aim of understanding and formulate educational policies within the scope of Latin America. By diffusing in Brazil the educational ideas and practices existing in Mexico, the Brazilian intellectual acted as a mediator of educational modernization. He introduced the Brazilian public to educational principles and concepts that served as guidance for international organizations such as UNESCO and the Organization of American States (OAS).

According to Celeste Filho (2019, p. 7): “It appears, therefore, that Lourenço Filho had a good reputation in the organizations linked to the OAS based in Mexico, since in the 1950s he was the Brazilian representative on its Inter-American Cultural Council”. The two educational journeys he took (1947 and 1951) are understood here as a movement that crosses history. This helps in understanding that various logics and motivations are due to circulation, mobilities, which change throughout history, because if travels are constant, it is necessary to add that their meanings are not univocal: “[...] that many and multiple are the practices and meanings of the act of traveling and what gives meaning to these shifts also changes historically” (CHAMON; FARIA FILHO, 2007CHAMON, Carla Simone; FARIA FILHO, Luciano. A educação como problema, a América como destino: a experiência de Maria Guilhermina. In: MIGNOT, Ana Chrystina Venâncio; GONDRA, José (org.). Viagens pedagógicas. São Paulo: Cortez, 2007. p. 39-64., p. 40). With these aspects, we analyze Lourenço Filho’s itinerary and work agenda in Mexico.

The first trip was on the occasion of the II General Conference of Unesco, held at the Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City and at Escuela Nacional de Maestros, in 1947. On this trip, he took the opportunity to visit rural schools in the states of Guerrero, Morelos, Mexico and Michoacán, where he found: “[...] some classes of admirable dynamism, where truly creative essays took place. In others, however, the work had not yet lost its traditional look.” (LOURENÇO FILHO, 1952LOURENÇO FILHO, Manoel Bergström. A educação rural no México. Revista Brasileira de Estudos Pedagógicos, Brasília, v. 17, n. 45, p. 108-198, jan/mar. 1952., p. 148). In the photo below is Lourenço Filho and other delegates of the II General Conference of UNESCO, held in Mexico, in 1947:

The participation of Mexico, as host of the II General Conference of UNESCO, was decisive in the dissemination of the Fundamental Education Project in Latin America. UNESCO, and consequently the Mexican government, approved the idea of spreading the assumptions of Fundamental Education in the world: “[...] in such a way that the participation and activities of Mexico in the creation and dissemination of this type of education in our own country and Latin America was of great relevance in the period 1945-1951.” (MIRANDA, 2014MIRANDA, Federico Lazarín. México, la UNESCO y el Proyecto de Educación Fundamental para América Latina, 1945-1951. Signos Históricos, n. 31, p. 88-115, enero-junio, 2014. Disponível em: http://www.scielo.org.mx/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1665-44202014000100003. Acesso em: 6 jun. 2022.
http://www.scielo.org.mx/scielo.php?scri...
, p. 91). During this period, Mexico participated in several international educational forums, in addition to proposing projects on Basic Education for ethnic groups that did not speak Spanish. This country’s participation is in the context of the world situation at the end of World War II and the new global geopolitical configuration under the leadership of the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), in which Latin American countries struggled not to fall into a secondary position in international political and economic affairs.

FIGURE 1
Lourenço Filho in the left corner and other delegates of the II General Conference of UNESCO, in Mexico, in 1947

In this context, the Mexican example, with: “[...] Rural Schools, School Nuclei, Cultural Missions, Rural Normals and Practical Schools of Agriculture” (CREFAL, 1952, p. 27), also offered interest in the technical point of view, that is, for the experience of the conception of Fundamental Education or Basic Education, especially for the creation of Regional Center for Fundamental Education for Latin America (Crefal)1 1 This center has undergone several changes in paradigm and nomenclature, from Regional Center for Fundamental Education for Latin America (Crefal) came to be called Regional Cooperation Center for Adult Education in Latin America and the Caribbean (Crefal), from October 1990 to the present day. , in Pátzcuaro, Michoacán. At the beginning of the Center, the objectives were basically to help Latin American governments to meet two urgent needs: to provide training for teachers and leaders of Elementary Education and the preparation of materials adapted to the needs, resources and cultural levels of communities, especially rural ones. There is evidence that Lourenço Filho, along with other educators, contributed to the construction of the concept of Fundamental Education, in these terms, it was conceived as the minimum necessary, according to Cerecedo (2015CERECEDO, Alicia Civera. Entre lo local y lo global. La Unesco y el proyecto educativo piloto de México 1947-1951. Annali di storia dell’educazione e delle istituzioni scolastiche, v. 22, p. 166-179, 2015. Disponível em: https://www.torrossa.com/en/resources/an/4923927. Acesso em: 7 jun. 2022.
https://www.torrossa.com/en/resources/an...
): “At that minimum, even without clarifying what he was referring to, it began to be called fundamental education (fundamental education).” (CERECEDO, 2015CERECEDO, Alicia Civera. Entre lo local y lo global. La Unesco y el proyecto educativo piloto de México 1947-1951. Annali di storia dell’educazione e delle istituzioni scolastiche, v. 22, p. 166-179, 2015. Disponível em: https://www.torrossa.com/en/resources/an/4923927. Acesso em: 7 jun. 2022.
https://www.torrossa.com/en/resources/an...
, p. 169).

The Brazilian educator, before arriving in Mexico, received a work agenda from the committee, which included meetings of the Inter-American Cultural Council commission, which he referred to in one of the letters as “nice Committee” (LOURENÇO FILHO, 1951LOURENÇO FILHO, Manuel Bergström. [Correspondência]. Destinatário: Murilo Braga. Washington, 4 out. 1951. 1 cartão pessoal., p. 1). One of the most important agendas of this meeting included the creation of new centers for the preparation of personnel for Basic Education, with an international character. In this perspective, Crefal’s pioneering experience was fundamental for the development of new experiences in Fundamental Education around the world.

On the occasion of the second trip, the “Master of Americas” left the direction of the National Department of Education and was appointed president of the National Executive Committee of the Personnel Training Center for Fundamental Education in Latin America, representing Brazil in the Inter-American Cultural Council, In Mexico. Its work plan was subject to the intervention of John B. Bowers (Head of the Division of Fundamental Education at Unesco), because as it was an institutional visit, it should fulfill the objectives and deliberations of Unesco, OAS and Crefal, including: study the methods, techniques and architecture of teaching places, writing reports, in addition to sending materials and objects relevant to rural education in Brazil. According to Mignot and Silva (2011MIGNOT, Ana Chrystina Venancio; SILVA, Alexandra Lima da. Tão longe, tão perto: escrita de si em relatórios de viagens. Educação em Revista, Belo Horizonte, v. 27, n. 01, p. 435-458, abr. 2011. Disponível em: https://www.scielo.br/j/edur/a/gWyWvVn9HttWpTFTCf3XsJj/abstract/?lang=pt. Acesso em: 7 jun. 2022.
https://www.scielo.br/j/edur/a/gWyWvVn9H...
):

Such attributions suggest thinking the trip on an official mission as part of an exchange between those involved, in the sense of gift and counter-gift, since, if, on the one hand, it received funding and cost of accommodation and travel, on the other, there was a series of obligations and charges, in order to repay those who financed the trip. (MIGNOT; SILVA, 2011MIGNOT, Ana Chrystina Venancio; SILVA, Alexandra Lima da. Tão longe, tão perto: escrita de si em relatórios de viagens. Educação em Revista, Belo Horizonte, v. 27, n. 01, p. 435-458, abr. 2011. Disponível em: https://www.scielo.br/j/edur/a/gWyWvVn9HttWpTFTCf3XsJj/abstract/?lang=pt. Acesso em: 7 jun. 2022.
https://www.scielo.br/j/edur/a/gWyWvVn9H...
, p. 437).

This visit was part of the initiatives being undertaken by the Brazilian government in favor of rural education, considered at the time one of the greatest educational problems in the country. These initiatives were articulated with the proposals in circulation at the international level, through agreements signed between Brazil and the United States. The mexican newspaper El Nacional published a large article on the arrival of 21 educators from each American Republic that is part of the OAS: “[...] it will be sent the most distinguished of his intelligentsia to the First Meeting of the Inter-American Cultural Council, which will be held in this capital for the next September from 10 to 25” (EL NACIONAL, 1951, p. 12). The meeting’s agenda included educational problems related to rural education, according to the action plan published in the newspaper El Nacional, the themes suggested in terms of education:

1- Inter-American aspects of primary education to make it universal, free, and compulsory; 2- Solutions for illiteracy and rural education problems; 3- Vocational education related problems; 4- Problems related to secondary education; 5- Promotion of basic education programs, adapted to the needs of the population; 6- Problems of the education of indigenous populations 7- Consideration of the problems related to the revalidation of university and technological studies; 8- Intensification of the exchange of professors, students and technicians. (EL NACIONAL, 1951, p. 5).

The educational agenda of this meeting reveals the concern with themes that were part of the international political agenda, such as the universalization of primary education, combating adult illiteracy, rural education and Fundamental Education programs. The board meeting: “[...] it would have its headquarters in Mexico. It would be made up of representatives of Brazil, the United States, Haiti, Mexico and Uruguay “ (BODET, 1971BODET, Jaime Torres. El desierto internacional. México: Porrúa, 1971., p. 12). The activities took place between September 10 and 25, 1951. On that occasion were Alberto Lleras Camargo (OAS Secretary General), Manuel Gual Vidal (Public Education Secretary), Manuel Tello Macías (Foreign Affairs Secretary), Miguel Alemán (President of the Republic), Jaime Torres Bodet (Director General of Unesco), among others. The image below shows Lourenço Filho at the time of this meeting:

The photography shows that the Brazilian educator was accompanied by Antônio Camilo de Oliveira, ambassador of Brazil to Mexico, between 1949 and 1951. His circulation and performance process must be understood as explained by Schriewer (2000SCHRIEWER, Jürgen. Estados-modelo e sociedade de referência: externalização em processos de modernização. In: NÓVOA, António; SCHRIEWER, Jürgen. A difusão mundial da escola. Lisboa: Educa, 2000, p. 103-120, (Educa História, 4).). In the author’s view, references to foreign examples are something more than contemporary stories in other countries, as “[...] such references are expected to serve as ‘lessons’, providing ‘stimulating ideas’ and new impulses for policy definition or to outline a frame of reference for specifying reform options.” (SCHRIEWER, 2000SCHRIEWER, Jürgen. Estados-modelo e sociedade de referência: externalização em processos de modernização. In: NÓVOA, António; SCHRIEWER, Jürgen. A difusão mundial da escola. Lisboa: Educa, 2000, p. 103-120, (Educa História, 4)., p. 114). When dealing with these subjects, Carvalho (2000CARVALHO, Marta Maria Chagas de. Reformas da instrução pública. In: FARIA FILHO, Luciano Mendes de; LOPES, Eliane Marta Teixeira; VEIGA, Cynthia Greive (org.). 500 anos de educação no Brasil. Belo Horizonte: Autêntica, 2000. p. 225-251.) considered that they constituted themselves as assiduous:

[...] travelers and avid readers, these mediators of the modern very often legitimized themselves by claiming their status as connoisseurs of what was happening in the other hemisphere. From these trips, they generally collected a certain fascination and a high dose of amazement at the material conditions in force in foreign school institutions, at the pedagogical culture inscribed in classroom practices, at the political values impregnated in the ways of organizing and providing popular access to school. (CARVALHO, 2000CARVALHO, Marta Maria Chagas de. Reformas da instrução pública. In: FARIA FILHO, Luciano Mendes de; LOPES, Eliane Marta Teixeira; VEIGA, Cynthia Greive (org.). 500 anos de educação no Brasil. Belo Horizonte: Autêntica, 2000. p. 225-251., p. 241).

The author indicates that Brazilian educational historiography has been mapping a kind of cartography of international circuits in which, in the second half of the 19th century, a plurality of information and pedagogical materials that had a role modeling in the process of configuring the school institution spread. Thus, in Brazil, as well as in other Latin American countries, there was a search to make changes in national education, considering international references. The hypothesis that the search for educational models considered more developed seems to guarantee a certain respectable legitimacy to the country that implemented a certain model. In the case of the Mexican experience as a reference for Brazil, concomitant with the intervention of Unesco, it was analyzed by Souza (2013SOUZA, Rosa Fátima de. A “Educação Rural no México” como referência para o Brasil. Revista Educação em Questão, Natal, v. 45, n. 31, p. 61-81, jan./abr. 2013. Disponível em: https://periodicos.ufrn.br/educacaoemquestao/article/view/5103. Acesso em: 7 jun. 2022.
https://periodicos.ufrn.br/educacaoemque...
) in the text “The Rural Educarion in Mexico” as reference to Brazil. The table below and the map summarize the agenda and places visited by Lourenço Filho in Mexico, in September 1951LOURENÇO FILHO, Manuel Bergström. [Correspondência]. Destinatário: Murilo Braga. Washington, 4 out. 1951. 1 cartão pessoal.:

TABLE 1
Agenda of Lourenço Filho, between September and October 1951LOURENÇO FILHO, Manuel Bergström. [Correspondência]. Destinatário: Murilo Braga. Washington, 4 out. 1951. 1 cartão pessoal.

FIGURE 2
Lourenço Filho and Antônio Camilo de Oliveira at the meeting of the Inter-American Cultural Council, Mexico City, September 25, 1951

FIGURE 3
Map of the route of Lourenco Filho in Mexico

FIGURE 4
Lourenço Filho and Lucas Ortiz, Michoacán, 1951LOURENÇO FILHO, Manuel Bergström. [Correspondência]. Destinatário: Murilo Braga. Washington, 4 out. 1951. 1 cartão pessoal.

The agenda and the map trace back, within the limits of this text, Lourenço Filho’s itinerary in Mexico. His agenda was especially focused on the participation in meetings and meetings with his peers - men of the State -, in the broadest sense of the term, who gathered and disseminated their ideas about rural education in public spaces: “[...] be as an object and content of discussions and disputes, either as a condition of their formation and expansion.” (FARIA FILHO; CARVALHO, 2016FARIA FILHO, Luciano Mendes de; CARVALHO, Rosana Areal de. A educação nos projetos de Brasil: espaço público, modernização e pensamento histórico e social brasileiro nos séculos XIX e XX. Programa de Pesquisa apresentado ao CNPq para solicitação de Auxílio à Pesquisa, Belo Horizonte, 2016., p. 7-8). These ideas circulated in congresses, trips, letters, magazines, newspapers, among other vehicles built as a result of this network of relationships. The image below registered Lourenço Filho with Lucas Ortiz at Crefal, in Pátzcuaro.

Lourenço Filho became the main Brazilian intellectual by UNESCO to establish relations with Mexico, this period. Regarding politicians, educators and intellectuals that integrate their social network, various names have been identified, such as: Jaime Torres Bodet, Mario Aguilera Dorantes, Isidro Castillo Pérez, Guillermo Nannetti, Lucas Ortiz Benítez, John B. Bowers and Santiago Hernández Ruiz. For Sirinelli (2003SIRINELLI, Jean-François. Os intelectuais. In: RÉMOND, René (org.). Por uma história política. 2. ed. Trad. Dora Rocha. São Paulo: FGV, 2003. p. 231-269., p. 26), the historian of intellectuals has the task neither of building a pantheon nor of digging a common pit. There’s better things to be done. Above all, trying to unravel the question of the relationship between the ideologies produced or conveyed by intellectuals and the political culture of their time. In this sense, this subject was inserted in a time when: “[...] countless subjects become men of doctrine; immersed in sociability networks, they act to reintroduce a floating knowledge on the national scene, however, strongly associated with the idea of research and innovation.” (MONARCHA, 2009MONARCHA, Carlos. Brasil arcaico, escola nova: ciência, técnica & utopia nos anos 1920-1930. São Paulo: Ed. Unesp, 2009., p. 173). Here, it remains to be asked: what caught Lourenço Filho’s attention on this trip? What aspects of Mexican rural education did he report?

“Certain problems are very similar to ours”: reports on Mexican Rural Education

Here I am, in this well-known land of yours, after nearly a month in Mexico. In addition to the work of the Inter-American Cultural Council, which was very interesting, I took a trip to the interior, as I have already written, to observe in loco the issues of Rural Education, thus giving performance: the honorable commission entrusted to me by the Minister.

I traveled through a good part of the state of Mitchoacan, seeing small villages of mestizos and indigenous people in the privacy. I observed the action of the professorship, really remarkable, for the social aspect. On the other hand, I have been seeing, not only at the Personnel Preparation Center for Elementary Education in Latin America, (O CREFAL, maintained by UNESCO and the OAS) the great experience and there it takes place, destined to the preparation of promoters, or leaders of fundamental education.

In this way I was able to gather very abundant material for a report in which I can describe the real action of the Mexican rural school, its plans, processes and objectives, linked today to a broader action of extra-school education and the work of cultural missions. This report, which I hope you will be able to present shortly after my arrival, may perhaps be published by INEP.

It is evident that I have affirmed many convictions, as, on the other hand, I have rectified others. The process of the problem, or of the solutions to the problem, in Mexico, was really big, from 1947 until now.

The State of Michoacán was well chosen, as it is a fertile region, some areas of early industrialization (very different from the one in the north of the country, in the Taxco area, and I also know it). Certain problems are very similar to ours in these areas.

I write from the Pan American Union, where I am, to examine cooperation issues. As I have already written, the plan of inter-American normal schools is now being studied in greater detail, I would very much like, if possible, to receive here what our government’s intentions are in this regard (project n. 26). On the other hand, before leaving Washington, I will write to you about the results of the study that has already started here today, with the technicians of the OAS.

My delay ah, it will be until the 10th. I think I am, from 11th to 19th, in New York. My plans are to board a ship, at 20, to draft the report on the voyage. So, if you can, write to me here, or else to New York.

As always, when we travel, we have no news from Brazil. Send me something to say about the general problems, including the progress of the S. S. Rural foundation project, With regard to this matter, like that of others, Marcio has been very active. Just yesterday, as I saw it, he sent him, by Air Mail, a large envelope, with a small report, abstract article and some papers from a congress, which took place in Mexico, in the days we were there, and where he managed to introduce. himself as an ‘observer’.

Greetings to the Minister and Dr. Pericles.

Recommend me to yours. Receive a big hug. (LOURENÇO FILHO, 1951LOURENÇO FILHO, Manuel Bergström. [Correspondência]. Destinatário: Murilo Braga. Washington, 4 out. 1951. 1 cartão pessoal., p. 1).

This letter crossed the American continent, written in Washington, United States, on October 4, 1951, was addressed to Murilo Braga, then president of the National Institute of Educational Studies and Research Anísio Teixeira (Inep), a position he headed between February 13th, 1946 and April 28th, 1952. In this correspondence, the author reports the experiences of a month in Mexico, approximately between the 7th of September and the 1st of October 1951, in which he claims to have intimately known small villages of mestizos and indigenous people, in addition to knowing the cultural missions and rural Mexico, with an emphasis on its plans, processes and objectives. Lourenço Filho’s comparative perspective can be seen when he considered that “certain [Mexican] problems are very similar to our [Brazilian] ones” (LOURENÇO FILHO, 1951LOURENÇO FILHO, Manuel Bergström. [Correspondência]. Destinatário: Murilo Braga. Washington, 4 out. 1951. 1 cartão pessoal., p. 1).

As a result of this trip, a 90-page report entitled “Rural Education in Mexico” was prepared, published by the Revista Brasileira de Estudos Pedagógicos between January and March 1952 and, in 1961, composed one of the chapters of the book Comparative Education (LOURENÇO FILHO, 1961). According to Mignot and Silva (2011MIGNOT, Ana Chrystina Venancio; SILVA, Alexandra Lima da. Tão longe, tão perto: escrita de si em relatórios de viagens. Educação em Revista, Belo Horizonte, v. 27, n. 01, p. 435-458, abr. 2011. Disponível em: https://www.scielo.br/j/edur/a/gWyWvVn9HttWpTFTCf3XsJj/abstract/?lang=pt. Acesso em: 7 jun. 2022.
https://www.scielo.br/j/edur/a/gWyWvVn9H...
), the travel reports: “[...] in principle written to fulfill obligations, they escape the standards of neutrality and objectivity that prevail in documents produced for the purpose of accountability. Their choices and also their tensions and emotions overflow from the writing of these travelers.” (MIGNOT; SILVA, 2011MIGNOT, Ana Chrystina Venancio; SILVA, Alexandra Lima da. Tão longe, tão perto: escrita de si em relatórios de viagens. Educação em Revista, Belo Horizonte, v. 27, n. 01, p. 435-458, abr. 2011. Disponível em: https://www.scielo.br/j/edur/a/gWyWvVn9HttWpTFTCf3XsJj/abstract/?lang=pt. Acesso em: 7 jun. 2022.
https://www.scielo.br/j/edur/a/gWyWvVn9H...
, p. 447).

We consider here that this report is simultaneously technical-professional and academic, expressing a continuous attempt at innovation, through the approach and study of issues concerning Mexican rural education. The author cultivated multiple and diversified intellectual interests, thus, he wrote and published studies on different subjects, such as the training of rural teachers and rural primary schools in Brazil, without losing sight of his comparative perspective.

UNESCO would promote pilot educational projects, which would be carried out by member countries, and the Organization would be responsible for providing information among them, generating documents for dissemination and convincing governments to carry out educational experiences for the purposes of the Organization, producing support materials and translating them. them in multiple languages. For Cerecedo (2013CERECEDO, Alicia Civera. Los proyectos educativos piloto de la Unesco y la definición de la educación fundamental, 1945-1951. In: CONGRESO NACIONAL DE INVESTIGACIÓN EDUCATIVA. 12. 2013. Guanajuato Anais..., 2013. Disponível em: http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:3hF2ue_aObwJ:www.comie.org.mx/congreso/memoriaelectronica/v12/doc/0772.pdf+&cd=3&hl=pt-BR&ct=clnk≷=mx&client=firefox-b-d. Acesso em: 20 set. 2019.
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/se...
), such projects were experiments, not only of educational experiences, but also of ways to relate, coordinate, support or direct the actions of UNESCO.

This report was in line with comparative studies developed at that time and which, in turn, consisted of reports that were the result of travel. The Mexican rural education experience was transmitted abroad in different ways, such as universal exhibitions, magazines and congresses and visits by commissioned educators. Lourenço Filho dominated the topics covered, therefore, his perception of Brazilian educational processes still shows relevance and may be relevant today in debates on rural education in our country. In his words, Mexico:

[...] it extended its functions, until assuming those of a political nature for mutual assistance in solving fundamental social problems, including those of health and education. With the reform approved at the Conference of Mexico in 1945 (coincident, thus, with the creation of UNESCO, he expanded his tasks of comparative study. Since that time it has, in fact, been on its own or in cooperation with Unesco, undertaking surveys of the cultural situation, educational legislation, programs and methods, and holding study meetings on important issues of education in American countries. (LOURENÇO FILHO, 2004LOURENÇO FILHO, Manoel Bergström. O ensino no México. In: LOURENÇO FILHO, Ruy; MONARCHA, Carlos (org.). Educação comparada. 3. ed. Brasília: MEC/Inep, 2004., p. 30).

On this trip, he attended meetings, visited schools, examined official documents, and maintained contact with educational authorities. As an experienced observer in the administration of public education, he assessed the educational movement with a keen comparative eye. This return in 1951 had a very specific political objective. It was about understanding the rural education practices developed in Mexico, learning the lessons well and, later, implementing similar policies in Brazil.

The report is divided into four sections. In the first, entitled “Origins of the Rural Education Movement”, the author analyzed the emblematic revolution of 1910 and the agrarian reform, through the tonic “Land and Schools!”; in addition to situating the problem of indigenous populations in the Mexican context and the affirmation of a social pedagogy as an ideological basis. The author also considered the historical role played by the Mexican educator José Vasconcelos, head of the Public Education Secretary (PES), and the relationship established between rural Mexican education and the concept of Fundamental Education - newly created, at the time, by UNESCO.

In the second section, “Organization and Development of a System”, the educator detailed Mexican general policy and educational policy, paying attention to the formation of ejidos. He then described Mexico’s difficulties in recruiting rural teachers and the important role played by so-called “missionary teachers,” as well as evaluating the evolution of early cultural missions. Lourenço Filho carefully analyzed the process of creation and evolution of regional normal schools and government plans for preparing rural teachers. In addition, the author has also inserted impressions about the rural teachers’ buildings and school equipment, as well as the general administration and school inspection services. Using statistical tables, he compared the general growth of the education system between the 1920s and 1950s.

In the third section, entitled “Current Situation of Rural Education”, Lourenço Filho gave an overview of the federal primary school system. He therefore looked at the current system of cultural missions, analyzing their different types and outcomes, with rural communities, in the areas of communication, health, economic organization, civics, and family and community life. In this perspective, the author also highlighted the administration, technical guidelines, financing and the results of the Campaign against Illiteracy carried out in Mexico. The educator also analyzed the services of the General Directorate of Indigenous Affairs, as well as those of the General Directorate of Agricultural Education and primary education boarding schools. Thus, when analyzing cultural extension services and rural populations, Lourenço Filho considered the importance of administration, radio service, popular theater, music, dance, educational cinema, libraries; and, finally, it placed rural education as a Fundamental Education system.

Finally, in the fourth section, entitled “Trends, General Results and Perspectives”, the pedagogist wrote about the evolution of Mexican social reform thinking and then considered the normative and constitutional aspects of rural education, especially with the 1917 Constitution Furthermore, it also assessed the evolution of social-pedagogical thinking and the relationship with the general results of educational policy. In this sense, Lourenço Filho considered the current doctrine of rural education, based on the principles of agrarian reform, and finally made his final considerations.

This report, in its density and richness, reveals the author’s immersion in Mexican history, education and culture. According to the UNESCO compilation of works on rural education around the world, entitled Rural Education, this report is analyzed as a study:

[...] written for the Brazilian Ministry of Education and Health, it traces the history of rural education in Mexico, from its origins to 1910, which author defines the Mexican system of rural education as a system of ‘social pedagogy’. School teaching is nothing but aspects completing various forms of popular education, and, at the same time, it is directly inspired by the principles of ‘Basic Education’.

A chapter is devoted to an examination of the design of current rural education; the author cites official statements setting out the objectives, general principles and theories of this education, as well as general recommendations regarding the organization of the system. Each of the four parts of the study (origins, organization and development, current status, trends) comprises a bibliography. Diagrams highlight the organization of rural education services and the relevant sections of the Ministry of Education (UNESCO, 1965, p. 30).

An important feature in the comparative studies carried out by Lourenço Filho consists in an instrumentalization of what had been compared with privileged pedagogical purposes, to the detriment of the original political characteristics that resulted in the educational arrangements to be compared. In other words, the Mexican “Rural Education” experience strongly marked by political formation and social revolution (formation of unions, cooperativism and struggle for land) was blurred in the report, even though it considered aspects of this topic in its writings. Looking at Mexico’s education system, he was able to consider that:

[...] the educational intention, with a strong social predominance, did not exclude the dissemination of reading and writing, but rather highlighted it as beneficial and necessary (20). In the objectives indicated by UNESCO for any and all work of ‘fundamental education’, this item is, moreover, clearly expressed in the first place: ‘The art of thinking and communicating thought (reading, writing, speaking, listening, calculating)’ (21). (LOURENÇO FILHO, 1952LOURENÇO FILHO, Manoel Bergström. A educação rural no México. Revista Brasileira de Estudos Pedagógicos, Brasília, v. 17, n. 45, p. 108-198, jan/mar. 1952., p. 161).

With the social tonic, Mexico carried out a literacy experience unprecedented in history, which combined the teaching of reading and writing and the project of redistribution of land, including for speakers of the maya, tarasco, otomi náhuatl, náhuatl2 2 They were prepared, with the support of the Department of Indigenous Affairs and the National Institute of the Indian, in four different indigenous languages: náhuatl-español, otomí-español, maya-español, tarasco-español; and they had three objectives: to teach monolingual indigenous people to read in their own language; teach them Spanish when literate in their mother tongue; and alphabetize them in spanish. languages. With this, the model of rural school was built in Mexico, with especially revolutionary characteristics, which made this pioneering and original experience a reference of continental impact. The movement called for agrarian reform, national control of mineral resources, Separation of Church and State, and extension of education to the masses.

In this process, two highly experienced teachers in Mexican rural education were the ones who promoted, designed and directed the Mexican pilot project: Mario Aguilera Dorantes and Isidro Castillo. For them, this project meant an opportunity to show the world that the Mexican rural school methods were effective and cheap, at a time when the rural school in Mexico was already overshadowed by the inertia generated by a uniform curriculum for the entire country, an education closed in the classroom, a school closed at fixed times, and a teaching, they said, unmotivated, routinized and bureaucratized.

The new project had to recover all the good that the educational experience of the 1910 Mexican revolution had brought, but excluding “its mistakes”. This was possible with the UNESCO shelter, as it had the support of the federal, state and municipal governments. Thus, it had sufficient resources, whose use would be concentrated in one region, without disassociating the rural school from other public and private schools, as well as from different academic degrees and orientations. In this way, so that everyone supported each other and everyone collaborated in the direct work with the community.

Lourenço Filho “[...] extracted more the technical-pedagogical elements that suited the Brazilian reality.” (SOUZA, 2013SOUZA, Rosa Fátima de. A “Educação Rural no México” como referência para o Brasil. Revista Educação em Questão, Natal, v. 45, n. 31, p. 61-81, jan./abr. 2013. Disponível em: https://periodicos.ufrn.br/educacaoemquestao/article/view/5103. Acesso em: 7 jun. 2022.
https://periodicos.ufrn.br/educacaoemque...
, p. 76). In the report, the political enthusiasm of the peasants’ struggle for land tenure, guided by the maxim “The land belongs to those who work it”, was softened, while rural education experiences, especially rural missions, conceived as efficient intervention strategies, were emphasized. in the lives of rural populations. In this way, the reference to the revolutionary bases that fostered the social pedagogy present in Mexican rural education practices was conceived only as an element of the movement’s historical trajectory, as the author was more interested in pointing out the movement’s reconfiguration in the democratic context.

Final considerations

Lourenço Filho’s two trips to Mexico fulfilled an institutional work plan, especially on the occasion of the II General Conference of Unesco and the I meeting of the Inter-American Cultural Council. The Mexican reference was used as a model of successful experience abroad. In this way, the reference to the revolutionary bases that animated social pedagogy, present in Mexican rural education practices, was conceived only as an element of the historical trajectory of the movement, since Lourenço Filho was more interested in situating the movement’s reconfiguration in the liberal brazilian context.

In the information on rural education in Mexico, technical aspects stand out at the expense of political content. This omission from the revolution was, above all, motivated by ideological reasons. Therefore, we consider it to be an appropriation “Brazilian style”, understood as a specific way of implementing the Mexican rural education model, considering the material conditions, political interests and cultural characteristics in progress in Brazil. In this sense, more than a copy or a simple adaptation, this movement consisted of a resizing of an original example in the context of the present circumstances in Brazil. In this case, the initiatives developed in Mexico were “Brazilianized” by Lourenço Filho, who, in turn, was inserted in a historical period marked by multilateral relations mediated by UNESCO.

REFERÊNCIAS

  • BODET, Jaime Torres. El desierto internacional. México: Porrúa, 1971.
  • BODET, Jaime Torres. [Correspondência]. Destinatário: Manuel Bergström Lourenço Filho. Paris, 22 jul. 1952. 1 cartão pessoal.
  • CARVALHO, Marta Maria Chagas de. Reformas da instrução pública. In: FARIA FILHO, Luciano Mendes de; LOPES, Eliane Marta Teixeira; VEIGA, Cynthia Greive (org.). 500 anos de educação no Brasil. Belo Horizonte: Autêntica, 2000. p. 225-251.
  • CELESTE FILHO, Macioniro. A educação rural brasileira analisada por Lourenço Filho no início da década de 1960. Revista História da Educação (Online), Rio Grande do Sul, v. 23, p. 1-27, 2019. Disponível em: https://www.scielo.br/j/heduc/a/mnKJ4TjMTg3qwDf9GPjzDYP/?format=pdf⟨=pt Acesso em: 7 jun. 2022.
    » https://www.scielo.br/j/heduc/a/mnKJ4TjMTg3qwDf9GPjzDYP/?format=pdf⟨=pt
  • CERECEDO, Alicia Civera. Entre lo local y lo global. La Unesco y el proyecto educativo piloto de México 1947-1951. Annali di storia dell’educazione e delle istituzioni scolastiche, v. 22, p. 166-179, 2015. Disponível em: https://www.torrossa.com/en/resources/an/4923927 Acesso em: 7 jun. 2022.
    » https://www.torrossa.com/en/resources/an/4923927
  • CERECEDO, Alicia Civera. Los proyectos educativos piloto de la Unesco y la definición de la educación fundamental, 1945-1951. In: CONGRESO NACIONAL DE INVESTIGACIÓN EDUCATIVA. 12. 2013. Guanajuato Anais..., 2013. Disponível em: http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:3hF2ue_aObwJ:www.comie.org.mx/congreso/memoriaelectronica/v12/doc/0772.pdf+&cd=3&hl=pt-BR&ct=clnk≷=mx&client=firefox-b-d Acesso em: 20 set. 2019.
    » http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:3hF2ue_aObwJ:www.comie.org.mx/congreso/memoriaelectronica/v12/doc/0772.pdf+&cd=3&hl=pt-BR&ct=clnk≷=mx&client=firefox-b-d
  • CHAMON, Carla Simone; FARIA FILHO, Luciano. A educação como problema, a América como destino: a experiência de Maria Guilhermina. In: MIGNOT, Ana Chrystina Venâncio; GONDRA, José (org.). Viagens pedagógicas. São Paulo: Cortez, 2007. p. 39-64.
  • CIVERA, Alicia. Notas sobre la historiografía de la educación rural en México. História da Educação - RHE, v. 15, n. 35, p. 11-31, Set./dez. 2011. Disponível em: https://www.redalyc.org/pdf/3216/321627142002.pdf Acesso em: 7 jun. 2022.
    » https://www.redalyc.org/pdf/3216/321627142002.pdf
  • CREFAL. Centro Regional de Educación Fundamental para la América Latina. Educación Fundamental: Ideario, Principios, Orientaciones Metodológicas. Pátzcuaro, Michoacán. México, 1952.
  • EL NACIONAL. LA IX CONFERENCIA INTERAMERICANA. EL NACIONAL, México, 30 ago. 1951. p. 12.
  • FARIA FILHO, Luciano Mendes de; CARVALHO, Rosana Areal de. A educação nos projetos de Brasil: espaço público, modernização e pensamento histórico e social brasileiro nos séculos XIX e XX. Programa de Pesquisa apresentado ao CNPq para solicitação de Auxílio à Pesquisa, Belo Horizonte, 2016.
  • GRUZINSKI, Serge. O historiador, o macaco e a centaura: a “história cultural” no novo milênio. Estudos Avançados, São Paulo, v. 17, n. 49, p. 321, set./dez. 2003. Disponível em: https://www.scielo.br/j/ea/a/BJNxbpzhPKCfRSYFmNHq5hg/?lang=pt Acesso em: 7 jun. 2022.
    » https://www.scielo.br/j/ea/a/BJNxbpzhPKCfRSYFmNHq5hg/?lang=pt
  • LOURENÇO FILHO, Manoel Bergström. A educação rural no México. Revista Brasileira de Estudos Pedagógicos, Brasília, v. 17, n. 45, p. 108-198, jan/mar. 1952.
  • LOURENÇO FILHO, Manoel Bergström. O ensino no México. In: LOURENÇO FILHO, Ruy; MONARCHA, Carlos (org.). Educação comparada. 3. ed. Brasília: MEC/Inep, 2004.
  • LOURENÇO FILHO, Manuel Bergström. [Correspondência]. Destinatário: Murilo Braga. Washington, 4 out. 1951. 1 cartão pessoal.
  • MIGNOT, Ana Chrystina Venancio; SILVA, Alexandra Lima da. Tão longe, tão perto: escrita de si em relatórios de viagens. Educação em Revista, Belo Horizonte, v. 27, n. 01, p. 435-458, abr. 2011. Disponível em: https://www.scielo.br/j/edur/a/gWyWvVn9HttWpTFTCf3XsJj/abstract/?lang=pt Acesso em: 7 jun. 2022.
    » https://www.scielo.br/j/edur/a/gWyWvVn9HttWpTFTCf3XsJj/abstract/?lang=pt
  • MIRANDA, Federico Lazarín. México, la UNESCO y el Proyecto de Educación Fundamental para América Latina, 1945-1951. Signos Históricos, n. 31, p. 88-115, enero-junio, 2014. Disponível em: http://www.scielo.org.mx/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1665-44202014000100003 Acesso em: 6 jun. 2022.
    » http://www.scielo.org.mx/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1665-44202014000100003
  • MONARCHA, Carlos. Lourenço Filho: a obra de uma vida, a vida numa obra. In: BATISTA, Eraldo Leme; ORSO, Paulino José; COSTA, Bruno Botelho. (org.). Os intelectuais e a defesa da educação brasileira. 1 ed. Uberlândia: Navegando Publicações, v. 1, p. 13-26, 2018.
  • MONARCHA, Carlos. Brasil arcaico, escola nova: ciência, técnica & utopia nos anos 1920-1930. São Paulo: Ed. Unesp, 2009.
  • SCHRIEWER, Jürgen. Estados-modelo e sociedade de referência: externalização em processos de modernização. In: NÓVOA, António; SCHRIEWER, Jürgen. A difusão mundial da escola. Lisboa: Educa, 2000, p. 103-120, (Educa História, 4).
  • SIRINELLI, Jean-François. Os intelectuais. In: RÉMOND, René (org.). Por uma história política. 2. ed. Trad. Dora Rocha. São Paulo: FGV, 2003. p. 231-269.
  • SOUZA, Rosa Fátima de. A “Educação Rural no México” como referência para o Brasil. Revista Educação em Questão, Natal, v. 45, n. 31, p. 61-81, jan./abr. 2013. Disponível em: https://periodicos.ufrn.br/educacaoemquestao/article/view/5103 Acesso em: 7 jun. 2022.
    » https://periodicos.ufrn.br/educacaoemquestao/article/view/5103
  • UNESCO. A Educação Rural. Instituto Brasileiro de Educação, Ciência e Cultura (IBECC). Rio de Janeiro, 1965.
  • 1
    This center has undergone several changes in paradigm and nomenclature, from Regional Center for Fundamental Education for Latin America (Crefal) came to be called Regional Cooperation Center for Adult Education in Latin America and the Caribbean (Crefal), from October 1990 to the present day.
  • 2
    They were prepared, with the support of the Department of Indigenous Affairs and the National Institute of the Indian, in four different indigenous languages: náhuatl-español, otomí-español, maya-español, tarasco-español; and they had three objectives: to teach monolingual indigenous people to read in their own language; teach them Spanish when literate in their mother tongue; and alphabetize them in spanish.

Publication Dates

  • Publication in this collection
    29 Aug 2022
  • Date of issue
    2022

History

  • Received
    18 Jan 2021
  • Accepted
    02 Apr 2022
Setor de Educação da Universidade Federal do Paraná Educar em Revista, Setor de Educação - Campus Rebouças - UFPR, Rua Rockefeller, nº 57, 2.º andar - Sala 202 , Rebouças - Curitiba - Paraná - Brasil, CEP 80230-130 - Curitiba - PR - Brazil
E-mail: educar@ufpr.br