Maria de Lourdes Melo Prais - Memória de uma educadora

Abstract

This research is situated in the field of studies on the History of Intellectuals in Education, within the Research Line of History and Historiography of Education of the Graduate Program in Education – Doctorate – at the Federal University of Uberlândia (UFU). The focus of this investigation is the trajectory of Professor Maria de Lourdes Melo Prais, who dedicated more than sixty years to education, with a historical scope covering the period from 1950 to the present. The central question guiding this work was to investigate the symbolic and unique aspects of the Teacher Dedê Prais's life story, as well as the contributions of her work to the development of education in Uberaba (Minas Gerais), with the aim of highlighting her trajectory and her protagonism in the educational history of the municipality. To achieve the research objectives, a predominantly qualitative methodology was used, with an emphasis on Oral History, based on the theoretical foundations of Meihy (2005), Meihy and Ribeiro (2011), Meihy and Holanda (2005, 2015), Alberti (2005, 2013), Amado and Ferreira (2006), and Delgado (2010). Life Oral History was the main methodological approach adopted, allowing the construction of interpretations about the professor’s historical path and conferring upon her an educational cultural identity. Thus, the thesis worked with the memories of Professor Dedê Prais (as she is known), recovering narratives that express her life story, her experiences, and the challenges she faced throughout her professional career. In parallel, documentary and iconographic reviews were carried out as secondary sources of the study. Furthermore, testimonies were collected from people who worked with and lived alongside the professor, contributing to the construction of a Network of Sociability that revealed significant aspects of her life and educational legacy. The interviews, conducted with the professor's formal consent after signing the Informed Consent Form (ICF), were transcribed and analyzed according to Bardin's principles (2006), which propose the inference of knowledge based on qualitative and quantitative indicators. The central objective was to explore the social and historical elements that are decisive in the History of Intellectuals in Education, highlighting the professor's influence on local and regional education. At the end of the research, the thesis contributed to the recognition of the life story of this educational intellectual, one of the most influential figures in the city of Uberaba and its surrounding region.