MEMORIES OF THE GENESIS OF PHYSICS EDUCATION IN BELO HORIZONTE IN THE FIRST HALF OF THE 20TH CENTURY

Abstract

This article sought to investigate how Professor Beatriz Alvarenga characterized the teaching of Physics/Science in her first contacts with scientific disciplines in Belo Horizonte during the first half of the 20th century. This period precedes and accompanies the creation of the Bachelor's and Licentiate degrees in Physics at the Faculty of Philosophy, Sciences and Letters of Minas Gerais in 1939. The research adopts a historical-narrative approach, mobilizing testimonies, memories, and personal records of the professor, understood as legitimate sources for the analysis of formative and professional processes. The results allow us to understand the social, institutional, and pedagogical context in which Beatriz Alvarenga was trained and worked, highlighting structural difficulties, didactic and epistemological challenges, as well as strategies that contributed to the reconfiguration of physics teaching practices. We believe that this study contributes to broadening the historical understanding of Physics Education in Brazil and to reflecting on the processes of constitution of the field before its consolidation as a research area.