Geografia e ensino no Brasil e em Cuba: um estudo histórico-geográfico comparado

Abstract

This thesis’ object of study is the development of Geography as a school discipline in Brazil and Cuba, from it’s beginning to these days. The main objective is to widen the debate and reflection about the functions and usefulness of nowadays school Geography, as well as about our practices as teachers of this discipline. In order to reach the objective we analise, within a comparative approach, the route of the Geography in both countries, priorazing the aspects related to the history of geographical thinking, furthermore, the ones related to its institutionalization, the factors that influenced it, the transformations it undertook through time, its main objectives and its configuration in the different historical periods included in this work. With that focus, we tackle in a particularized way the main elements identified as responsibles for building the conceptual structure of the discipline, linking them to the specific spatial and historic contexts and to each country’s own territorial formation processes. In order to achieve that, we develop discipline’s internal and external factors related studies articulating them with school Geography’s construction and reassertion processes. The comparative approach allows to broaden the vision on issues that concern Geography as a science and as a school discipline, especially those related to its objectives, to the selection and organization of contents and to metodology and teacher’s training. In that perspective, we also introduce the main aspects relating to both countries’ national teaching systems organization, and the insertion of Geography in that structure. On that base, we choose to analyse matters we consider fundamental for us to rethink the future of school Geography such as the building of national identity and patriotic indoctrination, educational books, official programs for the discipline and teacher’s training. As a final result, taking into consideration that teaching systems, the school and the curricula itself, are social constructions, and therefore subject to constant transformations, we hope that we have made a contribution to a type of reflection usefull for rethinkig the direction of school Geography in each of these two countries. Key-words: Geography Teaching – Compaired Studies – Geography in Cuba – Geography in Brazil – Geography’s Institutionalization