Domestic Education in Brasil: Aspects of European Influence on the Performance of Tutors and Private Teachers

• Published in: Historia social y de la educación Vol. 2; no. 1; pp. 1 - 22
• Main Author: Chaves Vasconcelos, Maria Celi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hipatia Press 23.02.2013
• Subjects: Brasil decimonónico; Domestic education; Educación doméstica; European models; los modelos europeos; nineteenth century Brazil; preceptores; private teachers; profesores privados; tutores; tutors
• ISSN: 2014-3567; 2014-3567
• DOI: 10.4471/hse.2013.01

In Brazil, the nineteenth century was the period in which domestic education, or home education, became widely practiced by the elites, particularly in the capital of the Empire of Brazil. The home was where the elite educated their children, by means of tutors and private teachers. The tutors were either male or female masters who lived in the family residence, hired to educate the children and youth of the home. The private teachers were those who gave lessons "in home", in the ABCs or specific knowledge, at pre-established times and days. Centered in the latter half of the nineteenth century, the study attempts to demonstrate the discussion and practices which prevailed in domestic education, copied from European models that greatly influenced Brazilian education. The sources investigated encompass, especially, newspapers and magazines of instruction and education and those meant for families and women. It may be concluded that the model for domestic education was impregnated by circumstances and a mentality of a time and a society that saw itself in European standards and that, slowly, left the final remains inherited from the colonial period, seeking the statute of an industrial capitalistic society.