Measuring the unknown

the concept of intelligence in the Brazilian educational context in the 1920s and 1930s

Authors

  • César Rota Júnior Faculdades Integradas Pitágoras de Montes Claros
  • Sérgio Dias Cirino Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais
  • Laurent Gutierrez Université de Paris Nanterre

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.35699/1676-1669.2019.6542

Keywords:

history of psychology, intelligence measurement, school psychology

Abstract

The intelligence tests developed at the beginning of the XX century played a decisive role in the reorganization process of Brazilian school education. The Belo Horizonte Teachers College had the function of training teachers for modern and scientific practices. The aim of this research was to analyze the concepts of intelligence that circulated in the state of Minas Gerais in the 1920s and 1930s, under the influence of the teaching of tests to the students from the Teachers College. Methodologically, we started from the concept of reception/circulation, which refers to the process of appropriation of instruments, ideas and concepts produced in other places. As a result, we were able to demonstrate that the practical use of the tests had supremacy over the theoretical debate about the notion of intelligence. We concluded that the experience of the Belo Horizonte Teachers College focused on the pragmatic use of tests, in detriment of the theoretical discussion about intelligence.

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Author Biographies

César Rota Júnior, Faculdades Integradas Pitágoras de Montes Claros

Psicólogo, doutor em Educação (FAE/UFMG), professor nas Faculdades Integradas Pitágoras de Montes Claros (FIPMoc).

Sérgio Dias Cirino, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais

Psicólogo, Doutor em Psicologia pela Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Professor associado IV no Departamento de Psicologia da UFMG.

Laurent Gutierrez, Université de Paris Nanterre

Professeur des universités en Sciences de l’éducation à l’université de Paris Nanterre, travaille sur l’histoire du mouvement de l’Education nouvelle et, plus largement, sur celle des réformes de l’enseignement en France depuis la fin du XIXe jusqu’à nos jours.

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Published

2019-06-02

How to Cite

Rota Júnior, C., Cirino, S. D., & Gutierrez, L. (2019). Measuring the unknown: the concept of intelligence in the Brazilian educational context in the 1920s and 1930s. Memorandum: Memory and History in Psychology, 36, 1–18. https://doi.org/10.35699/1676-1669.2019.6542

Issue

Vol. 36 (2019)

Section

Articles

License

The works published in the electronic journal Memorandum: Memory and history in Psychology are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License that allows sharing with acknowledgment of authorship and initial publication in this journal.