The Fetishization of Textbooks in Brazil

Abstract

The aim of this article isto discuss how several polemics over the quality of textbooks released by the press inrecent years have demonstrated how this pedagogical/didactic instrument has been overvalued. This status, which was achieved in the social representations by the educational materials, is the result of a complex historical trajectory, a significant economic importance, the ideological and political outlines, especially in the Brazilian republican period. Finally, it will discuss how the reputation of this material seems to overshadow other discussions such as the real working conditions, training and development for teachers and students from elementary schools in Brazil.