Educationin the diary of a British immigrant and in other writings at the province of Paraná

Abstract

This text discusses the experience of a British immigrant who lived in the Province of Paraná, South of Brazil, between the years of 1868 and 1888 and who worked as a teacher as of 1874. To follow her steps the following documents were consulted: the correspondence and reports written by members of the provincial and imperial government about the colony of Assungui, to where she, her husband, her children and other immigrants were sent to in 1868; periodicals of the province; a memoir written by her grandson Albert; letters written by her and her husband and a diary that she kept during 1880 and 1882. Based on these documents we discuss education in face of an autobiographic writing and the conditions faced to teach at the colony: the lack of books and appropriate classrooms, the difficulty to get paid; the requirements to teach at the capital, the inconstancy of private students, the debate on what to teach women in Brazil and in England; the selection of books to educate herself and the education of her children.