Entre tratar e educar os excepcionais: Helena Antipoff e a psicologia na Sociedade Pestalozzi de Minas Gerais (1932-1942).

Abstract

Between 1932 and 1942, Pestalozzi Society of Minas Gerais established institutions for the psychological treatment and education of children and adolescents considered abnormal , which , on its own initiative , began to be called exceptional. Created under name of the well known Swiss educator, pioneer of Active School methods, the Society was formed from the mobilization of civil society of the time, headed by the Russian psychologist Helena Antipoff, and constituted a paradigmatic case of the emergence of psychology as a professional field in Brazil. The dissertation surveys the role of Helena Antipoff as the Society’s psychologist, examining children and adolescents referred for specialist treatment, assessing their potential through psychological instruments and proposing practical actions in order to promote their development. It also analyzes the processes of assessment, treatment and education offered by doctors and educators, seeking to identify how the space of the psychologist was constructed at the interface between Medicine and Pedagogy. The period 1932 1942 was a time when the association helped special classes, established a Medical Pedagogical Clinic, the Association for Assistance to Small Newsboys and Pestalozzi Institute. Primary sources include the Society's publications and reports to evaluate children and adolescents referred for treatment, located in the archives of Pestalozzi Institute. The documents were analysed, seeking links between treatment and education, the relationship between psychology , medicine and education and the place of psychology in this association. The results demonstrate that, although recent studies indicate segregationist characteristics in the practice of psychology, the application of knowledge generated by this science in Pestalozzi Society had another role. It was found that, before the establishment of special classes, children with disabilities were out of school, especially in mental asylums. Special classes were one of the first initiatives that considered their difference, proposing a qualified special education for them. Psychological diagnosis not only served the purpose of qualifying but wanted to draw a profile of the child and thus propose different educational alternatives. The tests used were not limited to intelligence tests, but tests of motor skills and a characterological analysis technique proposed by the Russian psychologist Alexander Lazurski, introduced in Brazil by Antipoff, were used. Lazurki’s method allowed to understand strengths and weaknesses of the child, encouraging the strengths and working to eliminate or minimize the difficulties encountered. It was concluded that the institutions established by Pestalozzi Society rescued children considered irrecoverable by offering alternative forms of treatment and education. In the gap between treating and educating, it offered keys for knowing the child, demonstrating the importance of its uniqueness and its potential. Psychology thus becomes a science of relations with the health sciences and education, with people, with government, with the community. The change of nomenclature from abnormal to exceptional was a paradigm shift. Being exceptional, the individual has specific needs. The approach adopted, rather than focusing on illness or deficiency, promotes a look at possibilities, facing the potential for invention and resources necessary for the full development of individuals under care.