Dilemmas of lyceum education at the dawn of liberalism in Portugal according to the perspective of the Liceu Nacional do Porto

Abstract

According to the Decree of November 17th, 1836, entitled «Plan of National Lyceums», each district capital of the Portuguese metropolis and overseas territories would establish a National Lyceum (Article No. 40). The shaping of the Portuguese network of secondary schools, or lyceums (and the affirmation of their educational mission and specific identity in the national education
system), was a slow and complex process given the combination of problems concerning state policy, investment, and the selective offer of this level of education. Based on documental sources (official, statistical, and school-based), this article discusses the social, economic, ideological, structural, organizational and curricular issues regarding Lyceum schools. The article particularly focused
on the years from 1836 to the 1860s, and was based on the case of the Liceu Nacional do Porto (National Lyceum of Porto). The teachers from this school, explain their intellectual, pedagogical and organizational determination towards the weakness of the education policies within an authoritarian context. This article intends to shed some light on the discrete and structured path that was taken by the National Lyceum of Porto in order to reaffirm the professionalism of its teachers and the relevant mission of the state secondary schools within a liberal society.