One of the most important consequences of the Passos Manuel Reform (1836) was the creation of high schools, one in each district. This act led to the foundation of a number of schools that still exist today.

Over the course of time, with the use of the buildings that were initially assigned to them and the subsequent and almost generalized construction of new buildings; with the acquisition or supply of teaching materials and apparatus; with the formation of a permanent and fairly stable teaching staff and staff; and, finally, with the attendance of generations of students, each school created its own identity. This is how traditions were born, commemorative activities of internal or state initiative, school periodicals, respected teachers and a sense of pride in belonging to an educational institution. The school’s memory was born, grew, was made and remade, remaining coherent or appearing in fragments altered or mended by time. This memory is the property of those who, whether teachers, staff or students, once lived within the walls of each school, and often in writing, but much more often orally, it has been passed down over the decades, with a strong intangible character that intersects with the materiality of the school buildings, furniture, apparatus or materials.

The Sá de Miranda School Group is the heir to one of the oldest Portuguese high schools – the Liceu Central de Braga, later Liceu Sá de Miranda – which began operating in 1845. The Sá de Miranda School, proud of the depth of time in which it is anchored and aware of the importance of the permanent revival of its memory, is launching another challenge to teachers, researchers, students and the general public: the celebration of the school’s (i)material memory.

This challenge, which will take the form of a meeting on November 16 and 17 at the Sá de Miranda School in Braga, Preserving the School’s Material Memory (I), will be carried out shoulder to shoulder with CITCEM – the Center for Transdisciplinary Research on Culture, Education and Memory at the Faculty of Letters of the University of Porto. Consisting of guest lectures, papers and workshops, it will reflect on the following areas: school textbooks, libraries, archives, experimental apparatus and other teaching materials, as well as the material construction of schools and memory(s).

More information at: https: //preservar-a-memoria-imaterial-da-escola.webnode.pt/