Orestes Guimarães (1871 – 1931), professor born in São Paulo with a degree from the Escola Normal Caetano de Campos, arrived in Santa Catarina in 1906. After celebrating contract with Governor Vidal Ramos (1866 – 1954) he was trusted with the restructuring of Colégio Municipal of Joinville (A REPÚBLICA, 1935), a German settlement in the northern area of Santa Catarina state. Professor Orestes remained in Santa Catarina over the following three years – from his arrival up to 1909, he changed the organization of the classrooms and the evaluation of both the students and the courses in the curriculum. In the following year he celebrated a new contract in which he took up the post of General Inspector of Public Education (SANTA CATARINA, 1911). Between the years of 1911 and 1918 he served at state level working at the supervision and formation of teachers. By the time of the termination of that contract he was appointed General Inspector of Schools Subsidized by the Union. From then on, he was made responsible for the supervision of 190 subsidized schools in Santa Catarina. Such schools, situated in areas of foreign colonization, were chosen by the nationalization power conferred upon them. In that regard, the considerations of Carvalho (2003a, 2003b) are well-founded when they point out changes in the model of the paulista schools in the beginning of the century. According to this author, the end of the 1910s was responsible for changes in the portrayal of instruction and how the work in the area was done; there was interest in the incorporation of immigrants and further social groups to a literacy program and to the expansion of education on the grounds that they were effective means of nationalization. Illiteracy was then seen as a symbol of the inability to progress and the core of the reforms of the education is now regarded as the expansion of the public school. The present paper delves into the work of Orestes Guimarães at his federal office – the purpose is to understand how the reformist particularizes his performance in foreign schools and the roles of education as a means of nationalization. Legislation, government releases and reports from the inspectorate and the government are the sources for the present work. As education was key element to the formation of Brazilian citizens it was expected to play a role in the transmission of values and behavior – how was such transmission enabled? Orestes Guimarães’ professional background is studied here since he was an educational agent who made part of the Reform of the Public Education in Brazil. The interest here is to map his range in the field of authority of the educational administration and to name ways in which he lists the roles of the education as part of a project of emancipation.