Mathematics in the training of primary school teachers in Portugal, from Pombal reform from 1772 to 1910

Abstract

Teacher training schools for elementary grades played a central role in shaping pedagogical knowledge in Portugal. So, this work aims to contribute to the understanding of mathematical knowledge and its teaching which were developed in these schools until 1910. This documentary historical study was based on legislation (laws, decrees, orders, circulars and instructions sent to schools) in which we looked for references to mathematics and its teaching. It is studied successively in the text, after a brief characterization of the evolution of normal schools, the presence of mathematics: in the entrance examinations for candidates without the normal schools’ degree; in the entrance examinations to normal schools; in the disciplines of these schools; and in the content of these disciplines grouped according to the mathematical topics. As for the mathematical content, two axes have become clear. On the one hand they have become more complex (including for example algebra and logarithms) and on the other, since very early, the mathematics studied included themes for professional applications (accounting, surveying) that were part of the formative role of Portuguese primary schools in the period of analysis. As for the content of mathematics teaching, general pedagogy approaches seem gradually to include methods and processes specific to the teaching of mathematics revealing the gradual development of specific knowledge of the profession. The study of these programs shows the gradual construction of a set of mathematical knowledge, which go beyond what the future teacher would have to teach, and some methodological suggestions in line with what you would expect from a gradual construction of a school culture of primary teacher training.

Keywords: General history of education. Formation of educational professionals. Mathematics education