Abstract
The study seeks to understand how medical actions were taken to determine the biotype of children attending physical education classes in Pernambuco primary schools in the 1930s, in order to understand how comparisons were established between whites and blacks, based on practices of racialization present in the school environment. We analyzed documents of the public instruction, newspapers of school groups, magazines of teaching and of the medical area, among others. We are based on the concept of social representation of Roger Chartier (1990), in studies on Brazilian racial thought and the history of education in Brazil. We emphasize the role played by physical education in the national and local scenario, considering that racialization policies, based on anthropometric tests and measurements, have the mission of invigorating the race and ensuring the establishment of a healthy society physically, intellectually and morally.
Keywords:
history of education; medicine; racialization; primary school