The paper we submit aims to approach the experience of female teachers in Uruguay during the latter part of the 19th century, focusing on the grievances they lodged with the authorities. Uruguay witnessed a notable and early surge in the feminization of the teaching profession, with women constituting 67% of the public school teaching staff by 1890. Amidst the establishment of a national school system, as guided by the 1877 Common Education Law, authorities actively encouraged women's participation in teaching through initiatives such as reserving teaching positions for them. This transformative process, however, begun before the 1877 reform, characterized by the organic growth of girls' schools without a defined trajectory.While fostering the feminization of the teaching profession, the school reform brought about changes in regulations and a centralization of school governance that had effects on the work of teachers and the informal teacher training networks that female preceptors had built. Our exploration has revealed that alterations in certification processes, position allocations, and teacher salaries sometimes led to tensions between female preceptors and the authorities, resulting in formal complaints.Local literature on the subject has addressed prevailing discourses regarding the benefits of female entry into teaching and certain working conditions, such as certification accessibility and wage disparities (Cantarelli and Sosa, 2013; Fiorucci et al., 2022). However, very little is known about the experience of these women who, in the 19th century, played a pivotal role in expanding popular education. The possibilities they had to leave written traces of their experience are conditioned both by their subordinate position in the school hierarchy and gender roles. This has led scholars in other national context to adopt alternative methodologies, including the study of personal trajectories and the examination of conflicts and sanctions at the margins of official archives (Fiorucci, 2013; Caldo, 2019). This presentation analyzes the correspondence submitted by female preceptors in their appeals to the authorities. We consider the documentary collections of the General Directorate of Public Instruction and the Ministry of Government spanning the years 1877 to 1882. Our analysis focuses on the strategic approaches employed by these educators to defend their jobs and the margins of agency they exercised. Simultaneously, these actions offer insights into their educational backgrounds, living conditions, and perceptions of their roles as teachers. The cases of complaints serve as "locust traps" (Thompson, 1979), capturing rare instances that likely reflect more widespread circumstances but left scarce records. This approach opens up new questions about the life trajectories and views of these educators, who ultimately shaped the foundation of the school system.

La ponencia que presentamos busca aproximarse a la experiencia de las preceptoras en Uruguay en el último cuarto del siglo XIX, a partir de los reclamos que presentaron ante las autoridades. En Uruguay el proceso de feminización del magisterio alcanzó niveles importantes en forma temprana. En 1890 el 67% del magisterio de las escuelas públicas estaba compuesto por mujeres. En el proceso de organización de un sistema escolar nacional (marcado por la ley de educación común de 1877), las autoridades promovieron la participación de mujeres en la enseñanza mediante medidas que incluyeron la reserva de cargos docentes para mujeres. De todas formas, se trató de un proceso que se inició antes de la reforma escolar de 1877, con el crecimiento de las escuelas de niñas, sin una dirección clara y en forma más o menos espontánea. A la vez que potenció la feminización del magisterio, la reforma escolar supuso cambios en reglamentaciones y una centralización del gobierno escolar que tuvieron efectos sobre el trabajo de las maestras y las redes de formación para la docencia informales que las preceptoras habían organizado. Hemos identificado que los cambios en las condiciones para acceder a la titulación oficial, la adjudicación de cargos y el salario docente provocaron en algunos casos tensiones con las preceptoras, que interpusieron reclamos ante las autoridades. La bibliografía local sobre el tema ha abordado los discursos en circulación sobre las ventajas del ingreso de las mujeres al trabajo de enseñar y algunas de sus condiciones de trabajo -como el acceso a la titulación o la brecha salarial- (Cantarelli y Sosa, 2013; Fiorucci et. al., 2022). Aún sabemos muy poco sobre la experiencia de estas mujeres que en el siglo XIX sostuvieron la expansión de la educación popular. Las posibilidades que tenían de dejar huellas escritas de su experiencia están doblemente condicionadas por el lugar subalterno que ocupaban en la jerarquía escolar y por su condición de género. Esto ha llevado a investigadoras que trabajan otros casos nacionales a proponer abordajes alternativos, como el estudio de trayectorias que recupera los archivos personales, o el análisis de casos de conflictos y sanciones en los márgenes de los archivos oficiales (Fiorucci, 2013; Caldo, 2019). La ponencia analiza la correspondencia enviada por las preceptoras para reclamar ante las autoridades. Para ello consideramos los fondos documentales de la Dirección General de Instrucción Pública y del Ministerio de Gobierno, para el período 1877-1882. Por un lado estudiamos las estrategias que pusieron en juego para defender su trabajo y el margen de agencia posible. A su vez, estas actuaciones brindan pistas sobre sus trayectorias de formación, condiciones de vida y representaciones sobre su rol como maestras. Los casos de reclamos serían como “trampas de langostas” (Thompson, 1979), que permiten capturar ejemplos raros de situaciones probablemente más extendidas pero que dejaron escasos registros. Este abordaje habilita nuevas preguntas sobre los proyectos de vida de las maestras que en última instancia construyeron el sistema escolar.

Despite the stages of an organization that structure the teaching professionalization and the mechanisms that mark its globalization (Nóvoa, 1997, pp. 13-33), this career can be characterized by the diversity of individuals and the encompassed trajectories (Vicentini; Lugli, 2009). Such diversity is presented here through the teaching trajectories' analysis of two pairs of sisters – firstly Antonieta and Leonor de Barros, and secondly, Edésia and Iracema Aducci – in the capital of Santa Catarina state throughout the first half of the 20th Century. Therefore, the present study evaluated the sources of "Terms of Settlement of the Treasury" available at the State Public Archive and the notes and reports from the local press, accessible in the "Digital Newspaper Library" of the National Library. The objective was to record their functional and social movements, primarily examined through the lenses of race and gender, to highlight differences between their trajectories based on the socio-racial background of each pair. Theoretical perspectives included Michel de Certeau's insights (1985, 2009) regarding the operationality of practices and the study of Jean François Sirinelli (1996) about the density of sociability networks that supported the tactics (Certeau, 2009) of the pairs of sisters. The methodology employed considered the organization of a documentary series comprised of records based on their names, involving an analysis of deviations (Certeau, 2002) evident in their trajectories. Lastly, the present study observed the diversity of access within the same career based on existing support networks and sisters’ sociability, even as the Barros or Aducci sisters moved to assert their professional demands

Em que pese a organização das etapas que estruturam a profissionalização docente e os dispositivos que marcam sua mundialização (Nóvoa, 1997, p. 13 - 33), essa carreira é também marcada pela diversidade de sujeitos e trajetórias que a atravessam (Vicentini; Lugli, 2009). Tal diversidade é aqui apresentada pela análise da trajetória docente de duas duplas de irmãs –, Antonieta e Leonor de Barros, e Edésia e Iracema Aducci – na capital do estado brasileiro de Santa Catarina ao longo da primeira metade do século XX. Para tanto, tomou como fontes os “Termos de Assentamento do Tesouro”, disponíveis no Arquivo Público do estado e as notas e reportagens da imprensa local, disponíveis na Hemeroteca Digital da Biblioteca Nacional. O objetivo foi rastrear sua movimentação funcional e social, aqui tensionadas sobretudo a partir das categorias raça e gênero, de modo a assinalar para as diferenças nas trajetórias de acordo com o pertencimento sociorracial de cada dupla. Como referencial teórico, mobilizou as ponderações de Michel de Certeau (1985, 2009), a respeito da operacionalidade das práticas, e de Jean François Sirinelli (1996), sobre a densidade das redes de sociabilidade que suportaram as táticas (Certeau, 2009) das irmãs. A metodologia aplicada levou em conta a organização de série documental composta por registros pautados nos nomes das professoras e incorreu na análise dos desvios (Certeau, 2002) perceptíveis em suas trajetórias. Por fim, constatou-se a diversidade dos acessos no interior da mesma carreira de acordo com as redes de amparo e sociabilidades existentes, bem como a forma pela qual as irmãs Barros e Aducci moveram-se na tentativa de fazer valer suas demandas profissionais.