Cecília Meireles and religious education in the 1930s: Confrontation in favor of the New School

Abstract

This article analyzes the performance of Cecília Meireles against the decree on religious education in public schools in 1931. This subject is particularly important because some studies which analyzed the path of Cecília Meireles and her connection with education have not deeply examined the elements of her criticism regarding religious education. This article aims to bring new aspects of Cecília Meireles' path and her conflict with the policies of the provisional government of Getúlio Vargas. Between 1930 and 1933, Meireles criticized the events within this period in Página de Educação (Education Page) of Diário de Notícias, a daily newspaper. Initially, we note that this educator adhered to the New School ideas and founded on them her defense of the public school. The methodology consisted of reviewing, from a dialectical perspective, primary sources from her connections with the historical events in that period, seeking to understand this educator's writing in her time. We found the isolation and disappointment of Cecília Meireles about the course of Getúlio Vargas' government. However, Meireles kept her optimism, believing in a school which, referenced in the New School ideas, met the interests of the Brazilian population, and, therefore, she criticized conservatism and the presence of religion in the Brazilian educational field.