Instituto Federal do Rio Grande do Sul Câmpus Sertão: memórias da cultura escolar através das narrativas de egressos do Curso Técnico em Agropecuária (1972-2010)

Abstract

Educational institutions show a set of features commonly names “school stuff”. However, there are educational establishments that also present some specifics besides these universal features, that is a school culture itself, historically constructed and based on values and standards that translate into everyday practices. This study aimed to identify elements that constituted/constitute the culture of the Federal Institute of Rio Grande do Sul, Sertão Campus. In order to do this, the memory of former students was taken as the main research object. Thus, through reminiscences, a group of students graduated in Agriculture Tech (1972 - 2010) effectively contributed to respond the main question: How do graduates recall the time lived and what trademarks of school culture are there present in their memories? The study drew on cultural history references, especially school culture and memory as the basic conceptual tools. The main inspiring authors are Peter Burke, Dominique Julia, Sandra Pesavento, Clifford Geertz, and Pierre Nora, among others. The methodological procedures were developed in two phases, the first consisting of the questionnaires and the second on execution of interviews recorded and transcribed. The dataset and narratives allowed come to some conclusions, such as identify general characteristics and other very specific that school context: a culture involving different manifestations of established practices within the school and the boarding school, the teachers, the customs standards, the requirements of the praise disobediences irregularities, Since the tradition of surnames until the permanence of certain attitudes and values today still revered. The narratives showed what other researchers have found: memory is an infinite scope, which only fragments are recorded at the time of recall. Likewise, it was found that current memory softens the events related to daily practices, which were difficult to face in the past. Another finding worth highlighting: the facts recalled indirectly influence how the school is structured and organized over the years, whether reinforcing or not some mechanisms that cause domination or conformism. Such mechanisms - not always due to legislation or policy guidelines from the government, help building a particular school culture.