The "Psychological ideas" about the conditions of learning in the province of Paraná (1854-1889)

Abstract

The present article has the purpose of showing that the theories concerning the teaching and learning processes developed by the scientific Psychology were already spread on the documents that discussed education subjects even before they were organized in a systematized way as a science study subject. Reports from presidents, vice-presidents, inspectors and primary education teachers of the province of Paraná were used as a study source. The reports were written from 1854, after the province becomes independent from the province of São Paulo, to 1889, when Paraná leaves the condition of province of the Empire to become a State. The documents reveal that there is a crescent interest in the development of physical, intellectual and psychological conditions of children. Thus, subjects regarding better conditions for learning, such as the teaching method, the school building, the school material, the number of children per classroom, the progressive system, the class schedule, and the students’ age, give the tonic to the documents and at the same time reveal the concern with the psychological aspects of the teaching and learning process.