This article aims to analyze the pedagogical debate on literacy that was ran by the Journal of Education, published by the São Paulo Public School Teachers Beneficent Association. The timeline covers the years from 1902 to 1910. We sought to identify elements that allow the reconstruction of the intellectual atmosphere of the time - in the debate about literacy and teaching methods, in other words, about the school culture. Thus, through the analysis of pedagogic discourse, we tried to also examine the social meanings of literacy in light of the implications of using the school as a Republican political tool for the forming of the people.
educational periodical press; school culture; literacy; civility