As influências (psico)pedagógicas belgas em Faria de Vasconcelos e a repercussão na educação das crianças ‘anormais’ (escolares)

Abstract

António de Sena Faria de Vasconcelos (1880-1939) was a Portuguese educator, a follower of the progressive New School movement, and a prominent figure in the field of pedagogical science of the time. Part of his work was devoted to studying and solving the educational problems of pedagogically ‘abnormal’ and disabled children and young people through the development of special schools, specialised teachers and specially adapted teaching methods. This article is based on a hermeneutic analysis of Faria de Vasconcelos’s publications and other sources from the time. The aims of the study are: to understand Vasconcelos’s approach to the education of ‘abnormal’ children; to analyse his ideas and actions in the context of the New School Movement and their influence on contemporary pedagogy and paedology; and to examine his role in the Institute of Mental and Pedagogical Reeducation (1929-32) for the study and treatment of ‘abnormal’ children. The analysis covers the first four decades of the twentieth century, from Vasconcelos’s time in Belgium (1904-14) to his creation of the Institute of Occupational Guidance in Lisbon in 1925 and continued work on behalf of pedagogically ‘abnormal’ children. The special pedagogy of ‘abnormal’ children was found in psycho-pedagogy, psychiatry and psychotechnical theory, and had a profound influence on Vasconcelos’s work and ideas.