A escolarização dos exercícios físicos e os manuais de ginástica no processo de constituição da educação física como disciplina escolar (1882-1926)

Abstract

This thesis deals with the schooling process of physical exercises and gymnastics in the public primary education offered in some Brazilian states, which are: Paraná, São Paulo, Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro, on the last one, notably, in the city of Rio de Janeiro, municipality of the Court and capital of the Federal Republic. Comprising a historical period that goes from the last decades of the eighteen hundreds to the first quarter of the XXth century, aims to understand how the schooling process of physical exercises and gymnastics including the adoption, acquisition and circulation of gymnastic manuals contributes to the constitution process of Physical Education (P. E.) as a school subject, as well as the changes and permanency that make its trajectory in the curriculum. Thereunto, besides the gymnastic manuals, other sources were mobilized like reports; educational legislation; government letters; school inventories; periodicals; among others. The analysis of the manuals is based on the Stella Brescianis concept of common background, and on the observations of Alain Choppin (2000 and 2004), taking into consideration not only the characteristics of the book, but also the pedagogical features. Inserted within the history of school subjects, it is also based on the study of the curriculum as a social construction of Ivor Goodson (1995a, 1995b e 2000) and the works of Antonio Viñao (2008), André Chervel (1990) and Dominique Juliá (2002). The analysis of the documents allowed to identify different understandings about physical education, the teaching of gymnastics and the practice of physical exercises in schools, as well as some of the arguments used at the time in defense (or not) of the students physical exercitation. Still allowed to verify who were the authors of manuals adopted in each State, the context of production and circulation of these books, in addition to the purposes assigned to physical education and gymnastics. The selected contents and the methods of teaching were analyzed comparing the educational programs, taking into account the way gymnastics and physical exercises should be organized on schools, i.e, the recommendation on the use of time, the configuration of spaces and observations on the garment. In the absence of specific formation, stands out the contribution of exercise manuals as important teaching tools to subsidize the teachers work. It is observed the concern to promote intellectual education without neglecting physical education, respecting the balance of forces, that is, the harmony between the activity of the spirit and the activity of the body. It also highlights the importance of physical education not only to promote health and ensure the strength of the new generations, but also to form character, moralize the customs and educate the will. Indeed, it is also noticeable a rapprochement between physical education and moral education, recognizing the first contribution to the forging of a new moral and civic sensibility.