ABSTRACT
Operating with historical networks and the notion of appropriation, based on a transnational approach, this chapter aims to subvert the idea of center and periphery in intellectual exchanges, taking as the thread of the discussion the motions of Brazilian educators who at some point attended the Columbia University’s Teachers College in New York. Around 120 Brazilian students attended Teachers College between the 1920s and 1960s. The Teachers College played an important role in training several Brazilian educators, whose appropriations shaped the curricula and teacher training courses in the first half of the 20th century. Based on such evidence, this chapter proposes to show that the appropriation of models/ideas based on Teachers College in Brazil was not a mere importation but implied processes of resignification and hybridization that resulted in ideas that had international circulation. Some of these Brazilian educators visited other countries and formed a theoretical repertoire that combined North American and European authors adapted to the Brazilian scenario. Some also traveled throughout Latin America, promoting their ideas and publications. The case studies explored in the chapter highlight that the exchanges were multidirectional and the existence of multiple centers.
