Transnational education in the late nineteenth century: Brazil, France and Portugal connected by a school museum

Abstract

This article focuses on the circulation of a single artefact, the Museu Escolar Brasileiro (Brazilian School Museum) and its use in education through the pedagogical method of object lessons. Concentrating on the activities of particular individuals and enterprises (Menezes Vieira, Oliveira Lopes and Maison Deyrolle), within three geographical spaces (Brazil, Portugal and France), this article seeks to explore the relationship between the national and the international in educational proposals and initiatives that emerged at the end of the nineteenth century. The approach adopted also allows connections between the history of education and the history of science during this period to be pursued.