Crossing regional borders: Rethinking the comparative history of national education

This text analyzes problematic questions entangled in the studies of comparative history of education in Brazil. It discusses the tensions present at the spatial selection chosen for this comparative investigation and some approaches and methods guiding the historical comparison. The strains among regional, state and national level are treated considering the initiatives of the public power towards education and the representations of the national identity present in the Brazilian social thinking. Regarding the theoretical background, the text examines the contributions and limits of the social-historical perspective in the field of comparative education and the connected histories crossed on the field of comparative history. The reflection aims to point to the challenges and possibilities of studies of this nature understanding the comparison as an important tool for the confrontation of research production as well as the diverse and different educational realities in the country.