Schooling Practices: History and Memory of Rural Education in the Northeast of Rio Grande do Sul (1910-1940)

Abstract

This present paper discusses different practices of rural education in two regions of Rio Grande do Sul, the Region of Italian Colonization (RIC) and the Region of Campos de Cima da Serra (RCCS). Both are located in the Northeast of Rio Grande do Sul, but in the same period revealed striking differences in their teaching practices. With the objective of reconstructing a fragmentof the History of Rural Education in Rio Grande do Sul from 1910 to 1940, the investigation uses the methodology of Oral History as well as two collections of memories, where testimonials by students and teachers from rural areas describe the strategies adopted in the rural environment to perform the schooling process. When comparing the two regions, the practices in the RCCS refer mostly to the form of schooling that I have called “Classes with teachers at home.” In the case of the RIC, although public education was poor, it was through the implementation of socalled community schools that education took place.

Key words: schooling practices, rural teaching, History, memory.