Institutionalization of Moral Principles – Jennifer Andreyne Alves dos Santos’s (UFS) and Valéria da Conceição Eleoterio Santos’s (UFS) review of “Casa de Meninas: práticas educativas no Orfanato de São Cristóvão e na Escola Imaculada da Conceição”, by Josineide Siqueira de Santana
Abstract: Casa de Meninas: práticas educativas no Orfanato de São Cristóvão e na Escola Imaculada da Conceição, by Josineide Siqueira de Santana, analyzes female education in Sergipe in the twentieth century. The work, the result of the author’s master’s degree, explores the restrictions and influences of the Catholic Church on women’s education, highlighting the limitation of their social and professional perspectives. Despite a little critical approach, the book offers valuable insights into female historicity and school culture of the time.
Keywords: Educational practices, female education, and school culture.
The Book Casa de Meninas: práticas educativas no Orfanato de São Cristóvão e na Escola da Imaculada Conceição, written by Josineide Siqueira de Santana and published by the Sergipe State Official Gazette – Edise in 2016, aims to record and analyze educational practices In the São Cristóvão orphanage and the School of Immaculate Conception in the first half of the twentieth century and how this education meant for orphans. The preface, written by Iranilson Biruth, from the Federal University of Campina Grande (UFCG), in Paraíba, reinforces the importance of historical research conducted by the author.
The work is the result of the author of the author’s master’s dissertation, entitled: “Between embroidery, notebooks and prayers”: the education of girls and educational practices in the São Cristóvão orphanage and at the School of Immaculate Conception (1922–1969), defended in the program Postgraduate in Education at the Federal University of Sergipe in 2011 (PPGED/UFS). The author is a PhD in Education by the same program and has experience in topics such as History of Education, School Culture, Orphans Education and Female Education. The book is structured in three chapters, in addition to thanks, preface, introduction, final considerations and bibliographic references. The work offers a rich and detailed view of educational practices aimed at orphaned girls in two Sergipe institutions from 1922 to 1969, revealing interesting aspects of school culture and female formation at the time.
The first chapter of the work aims to reveal the difficult trajectory of women in the search for an education beyond the domestic scope, in the passage of the nineteenth to the twentieth century. The author presents the ways in how women were undervalued in society at the time and limited access to education, restricting them to instructions that attended only to the desires of families, spouses and the state. This stereotyped view of female education was a major obstacle to women who fought for a broader formation and who wanted to perform professional activities. However, despite the difficulties, many women resisted and fought against prejudice and barriers imposed by society, thus contributing to a significant change in female education.
The second part of the work aims to present the trajectory of the sisters of the Immaculate Conception of the Mother of God in Women’s Education in Sergipe in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. The author highlights the importance of the coming of these religious congregations to combat the advance of Protestantism and the crisis faced by the Catholic Church with the arrival of the Republic in Brazil. The chapter also addresses the importance of the Friar Amando Bahlmann in the history of the congregation, as well as the trajectory of Nurse Josefa Felizarda in the construction of the St. Christopher’s Orphanage in 1911. It also highlights the relevance of Law No. 926, created in 1925 by Governor Maurício Graccho Cardoso, which guaranteed state resources for the operation of the orphanage and the Immaculate Conception School. The author analyzes the profile of the orphans who attended the orphanage of St. Christopher showing the diversity of geographical origins of the orphan and the emphasis on female education linked to the role of educator of children and government concerns with the formation of citizens and the protection of childhood.
The third and last chapter presents a detailed analysis of the experiences of the former students of the São Cristóvão orphanage and the School of Immaculate Conception, produced through testimonials their daily experiences. The rigid discipline, control of bodies, role of the Catholic and taboo religion around sexuality are some of the topics addressed by the reports of the former interns. In addition, the text explores the festivities of St. Christopher and his relationship with the orphanage and the school of Immaculate Conception, presenting the civic and religious meanings involved. The chapter concludes with testimonials from alumni, highlighting the reasons that led them to leave the institution and the marks that this experience left in their lives, stressing the pains and joys of this generation of women.
Throughout the work it is possible to identify that the author takes a limited approach to educational practices in other institutions, which impairs the understanding of the social context in question in other localities of the state. Moreover, there is no critical view regarding educational practices focused on women’s marriage and motherhood. We think it is necessary to reflect on other formation possibilities and broaden the perspective of life of girls, so that this model of education, based on gender stereotypes, be refuted, creating a vision directed to other possibilities of formation to girls, in one broader and diverse perspective in the world.
The author does not present a critical position and questions regarding religious influence on the formation of female identity, only portrays the facts to readers.
However, the work addresses women’s education throughout history, using documentary sources that help the reader understand the functioning of the institutions covered, discussing diversity in school culture and its effects on the insertion of women in the schooling process. Another point to be highlighted is the analysis of learning techniques, fundamental to understand the intentionality of the educational process. It is still relevant approach to the influence of religion on the formation of this identity with a way of knowing the ethical values of a given society. Therefore, the author brings a multidisciplinary perspective on women’s education throughout history, showing how these various aspects are interconnected and influence the formation of the individual.
In short, Josineide’s work has a reflection on school culture and female historicity in Sergipe. By exposing the intense influence of the Catholic Church on the pedagogical processes of the time and how the religious learning methods were performed, the book brings up the limited view of women in that period, their restrictions on society and objectives and objectives. educational that limited them to fulfill the domestic roles of good wives and mothers. With this, the book enables a better understanding of the difficulties faced by this generation of women throughout its academic trajectory, the understanding of the importance of gender equality in society and the construction of a fairer and more democratic world. We indicate reading this book to students of pedagogy, education or related areas who want to deepen their knowledge about the history of female education and their faculties in society, women seeking inspirations and references to their own personal and professional formation, activists and leaders Community who work with the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women, noting that the struggle for equality must be embraced by all, regardless of gender.
Summary of Casa de Meninas: práticas educativas no Orfanato de São Cristóvão e na Escola Imaculada da Conceição
- Introdução
- 1. Menina Bonita do Laço de Fita
- 2. Freirinhas de Olhos de Contas Azuis
- 3. Memórias de Menina
- Considerações finais
- Referências bibliográficas
Reviewers
Jennifer Andreyne Alves dos Santos is a degree in Pedagogy from the Universidade Federal de Sergipe. ID LATTES: https://lattes.cnpq.br/5988813520256505; ID ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-4599-1703; E-mail: jully.andreyni@gmail.com.
Valéria da Conceição Eleoterio Santos is a degree in Pedagogy from the Universidade Federal de Sergipe. ID LATTES: http://lattes.cnpq.br/9559723495433170; ID ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-2419-3166; E-mail: valeriasantos0099@gmail.com.
To cite this review
SANTANA, Josineide Siqueira. Casa de Meninas: práticas educativas no Orfanato de São Cristóvão e na Escola Imaculada da Conceição. Aracaju: Edise, 2016. 218p. Review by: SANTOS, Jennifer Andreyene Alves dos; SANTOS, Valéria da Conceição Eleoterio. Institutionalization of Moral Principles. Crítica Historiográfica. Natal, v.3, n.13, Nov/Dec, 2023. Available at <Institutionalization of Moral Principles – Jennifer Andreyne Alves dos Santos’s (UFS) and Valéria da Conceição Eleoterio Santos’s (UFS) review of “Casa de Meninas: práticas educativas no Orfanato de São Cristóvão e na Escola Imaculada da Conceição”, by Josineide Siqueira de Santana – Crítica Historiografica (criticahistoriografica.com.br)>.
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