Between Notebooks and Challenges: Memories of a Teacher in a Multigrade Rural School
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1590/SciELOPreprints.13607Keywords:
Rural Education, Multigrade Classes, Teacher Memory, Identity, Rural SchoolAbstract
This study narrates and analyzes the trajectory of teacher Filomena Elis Gaspareto Lucion, who worked in a multigrade rural school located in the countryside of Santa Maria, Brazil. The research, based on a qualitative approach, is grounded in the (auto)biographical perspective and narrative history, aiming to understand the meanings attributed to teaching practice in contexts of invisibility and scarcity. The multigrade school, characterized by heterogeneous classes, lack of resources, and a strong community bond, required the teacher to assume multiple roles and develop creative pedagogical strategies. Her account highlights the overlap of roles as educator, administrator, cook, and community reference, expressing a multifaceted teaching practice shaped by adversity and ethical commitment to students. The study is anchored in authors such as Josso, Arroyo, Caldart, Freire, and Molina to discuss teaching identity, memory, and rural education as a field of political and cultural struggle. The research revealed inventive practices, such as the organization of rows by grade level, the use of rotating tasks, and the teacher’s affective role within the community. The closure of the school, caused by demographic decline, represented not only an educational loss but also a symbolic one for the territory. The reconstruction of Filomena’s memory reveals the strength of experiential knowledge and its relevance for informing public policies that value rural education. Her narrative reaffirms the importance of rural schools as spaces of belonging, resistance, and cultural production, in contrast to the urban-centered logic that dominates Brazilian educational policies.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Lisiane Fagundes Pozzobon, Oldair José Pozzobon, Helenise Sangoi Antunes

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