This article focuses on the circulation of ideas linked to the ideology of the «New School» in Brazil between 1930 and 1958, from the prescriptions aimed at introducing new pedagogical practices in training institutions and, through them, meet the social and educational demands of the country. By having the educational legislation, the prescribed programs for teacher training, and reports produced by delegates of education as documentary sources, this article seeks to gather guidelines produced in different instances of power to capture the combination of a refreshing lexicon, limitations of the educational system and practices intended to be spread, which, in the end, caused tension between concepts and practical experiences, featuring an innovation marked by selective appropriation of the pedagogical renewal pretensions.