Disciplina-disciplinamento : da vara de marmelo a cadeirinha do pensamento

A preocupação com a questão da disciplina/indisciplina e dos castigos na escola vem dos tempos de menina, quando, então, ouvia as histórias de alunos terríveis, indisciplinados que infernizavam a vida de minha mãe-professora. Buscando entendimento para os problemas disciplinares, através do tempo (1900 - 2000), foram pesquisados os registros escolares de quatro escolas públicas de duas cidades de Minas Gerais - três escolas de Ensino Fundamental e uma Escola Normal. Dos arquivos das três escolas de Ensino Fundamental, até a década de 60 (1960), saltaram as imagens positivas de professoras boazinhas, virtuosas e dedicadas e de alunos obedientes, educados e estudiosos. Essas imagens, também, surgem em textos literários onde encontra-se a representação da professora segunda mãe, primeira namorada, irmã mais velha, atriz, etc. Buscou-se a construção da imagem edificante da professora do passado na Escola Normal, onde foi possível trazer o passado para o presente e entender os elos que uniam a família, a escola e a "boa sociedade", numa cidade pequena do interior de Minas Gerais. Contudo, os documentos atestaram que a escola do passado, para salvaguardar a moral e bons costumes e a disciplina escolar, de forma cruel, ia eliminando os alunos que não se enquadravam no "ambiente harmonioso da escola". Os estudos realizados permitem rever as idéias sobre o crescente número de ocorrências de indisciplina nas últimas três décadas e refletir sobre os comportamentos dos alunos do passado e do presente, que continuam, ontem e hoje, apenas crianças: meninos e meninasMy concern about the issue of discipline / indiscipline and the punishments that were applied at school come from my childhood when I used to listen to my mother's stories about her terrible badly behaved students who used to drive her crazy. In order to comprehend the problems about discipline through time (from 1900 to 2000) some school documentation was studied at four public schools in two cities in Minas Gerais - three Elementary Schools and one High School for acquiring a Teaching Degree. From the files of the three Elementary Schools up to the 1960's, some positive images of the nice, virtuous and dedicated teachers have come up, as well as obedient polite and studious pupils. These images also appear in literary texts in which the teacher is depicted as a second mother, first girlfriend, older sister, actress, etc. The build up of the remarkable portrayal of the teacher from the past at the High School for a Teaching Degree was developed. Through this it was possible to bring past to present time and understand the bonds which used to gather family, school and the "good society", in a small inner town in Minas Gerais. Nevertheless the documents have testified that the school from the past would ruthlessly eliminate those pupils who did not fit the "harmonious atmosphere of the school" in order to preserve moral, customs and school discipline. All the researches that have been developed so far allow one to think about the increasing number of indiscipline cases throughout the last three decades and reflect about the behavior of the students from the past and the present, who still continue, yesterday and today, being mere children: boys and girl