Uma “missão para civilizar”: a visão de educação popular do Sindicato de Mães Anglicanas e da Sociedade de Amigas das Moças (1886-1926)

Abstract The Mothers’ Union (1886) and the Girls Friendly Society (1874) were official Anglican Church of England organisations. They drew on a religiously informed ideal of womanhood, and asserted the significance of women as exemplars of Christian citizenship with a mission to improve society. They asserted mothering as a significant educational project. This article identifies three main ways in which this popular educational mission was accomplished: first, through the example of the mother in the home; second, through the informal education inherent in organisational practices; and third, through overt educational practices. Despite conservative social values, the extensive membership of the organisations is indicative that their mission to promote women as religious educators had widespread appeal. O Sindicato de Mães (1886) e a Sociedade de Amigas de Moças (1874) eram organizações oficiais da Igreja Anglicana da Inglaterra. Elas desenharam um ideal de feminilidade religiosamente informado e afirmaram a importância das mulheres como exemplos de cidadania cristã com a missão de melhorar a sociedade. Afirmaram a maternidade como um projeto educacional significativo. Este artigo identifica os três principais modos pelos quais esta missão educacional popular foi realizada: primeiro, pelo exemplo da mãe no lar; em segundo, pela educação informal inerente às práticas organizacionais e, em terceiro, pelas práticas educacionais explícitas. A despeito dos valores sociais conservadores, a ampla participação das organizações indica que sua missão de promover as mulheres como educadoras religiosas teve um grande apelo.

A “mission to civilize”: the popular educational vision of the Anglican Mothers’ Union and Girls’ Friendly Society (1886-1926)

Abstract The Mothers’ Union (1886) and the Girls Friendly Society (1874) were official Anglican Church of England organisations. They drew on a religiously informed ideal of womanhood, and asserted the significance of women as exemplars of Christian citizenship with a mission to improve society. They asserted mothering as a significant educational project. This article identifies three main ways in which this popular educational mission was accomplished: first, through the example of the mother in the home; second, through the informal education inherent in organisational practices; and third, through overt educational practices. Despite conservative social values, the extensive membership of the organisations is indicative that their mission to promote women as religious educators had widespread appeal