School textbooks and children’s indoctrination in the context of the Estado Novo (1937-1945)

Abstract

From the relationship between education and nationalism, the purpose of this article is to put on screen the role of school textbooks as sources of reading and indoctrinating children in the context of the Estado Novo, as well as the conception of education and childhood that can emerge from them. In dialogue with the theoretical horizon offered by Roger Chartier (1990), particularly with regard to the complementary notions of “representations” and “social practices”, this work focuses on two specific sources: the textbooks “Getúlio Vargas for Children” and “Getúlio Vargas: Friend of Children”. The results show that when they transmit values, beliefs and behavior patterns anchored on the principles of authority, hierarchy, order and patriotism, these school textbooks reflect meaningful facets of a political project dedicated to spreading in children’s imagination the basic principles of mentality that gave ideological support to Vargas regime.

Keywords: school textbooks, childhood, Estado Novo, History of Education.