The right not to forget: the contribution of collective memory to the recognition of school identity

Abstract

This article is an excerpt from the author's course completion work presented during the Archival Studies degree at the Universidade Federal do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (UNIRIO). It aims to study the concepts of collective memory, school culture and school identity in pedagogical practice in the case of resistance at the Friedenreich Municipal School, in the Maracanã neighborhood, Rio de Janeiro/RJ. It is worth noting that the aforementioned teaching unit was threatened with demolition in the context of the city's mega events - the Football World Cup and the Olympic and Paralympic Games in order to satisfy supposed demands from international organizations - the International Football Federation and the International Olympic Committee, among the years 2009 and 2013. To develop the work, we opted for a bibliographic survey, mainly on Pollak's concepts of memory and social identity, Nora's place of memories, Halbwachs' collective memory and Thiesen's institutional memory. From the analysis of this material, it is clear that the school has become a reference for its political action against a system that values profit to the detriment of quality public education. It is also concluded that the memory, culture and collective identity of the place were directly affected by the process of institutional resistance and that the maintenance of this collectivity will depend on the political articulation of the school community itself.