Professor Edilson Aparecido Chaves, from the Federal Institute of Paraná (IFPR), launched a book resulting from his post-doctoral research carried out in the Postgraduate Program in History (PPGHH) at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN). The work addresses the construction of the National Textbook Program Memorial (PNLD), which houses the largest collection of textbooks in the world, with 22,500 physical copies and a comprehensive digital collection.
The PNLD Memorial was created in 2010 through a partnership between the Ministry of Education (MEC) and UFRN. It brings together books from all disciplines, notices, evaluation forms, documents from publishers and PNLD guides, preserving the memory of one of the most important public policies for access to books and reading in Brazil. The collection is accessible to researchers and records the transformations in public policies, pedagogical practices and social contexts in the country over the decades.
During his research, Edilson explored the complexity of the Memorial, analyzing documents, collections and the process of establishing this unique space. According to him, the Memorial made it possible to understand how textbooks reflect the social, political and cultural contexts of each era, offering a rich documentary basis for critical analysis.
“The PNLD Memorial was essential for the research by providing a rich and diverse documentary base, it allowed us to understand the mapping of transformations in selection and evaluation criteria, highlighting changes in public policies and pedagogical practices over time”, highlights Edilson.
The work was supervised by Margarida Dias, professor at UFRN, who highlighted the relevance of the research and the book for academia:
“I strongly recommend that people who have the opportunity to read it and, above all, teachers and researchers who work with textbooks, pay attention to the myriad of possibilities available to understand which teaching materials need new perspectives from academia, teachers, publishers, authors; the school community.”
The book, the result of an intense period of research between 2023 and 2024, reaffirms the role of the PNLD Memorial as a national and international reference for educational research, consolidating the relevance of UFRN in collaborating on the accessibility of information and maintenance of this collection.
To learn more about the Memorial visit the website: cchla.ufrn.br/pnld/
To learn more about the book visit: https://www.editoracabana.com/cat%C3%A1logo/hist%C3%B3ria-acervos
