ABSTRACT:
This article presents part of a research carried out in the rural settlement of Vila Nova, municipality of Santa Rosa do Sul, Santa Catarina, Brazil, and had as main objective to understand the infant education in this community in view of the historical and social context. The following were carried out: review of bibliographies and research; interviews with education professionals, residents and community agents; comments; questionnaires to settled families; and analysis of reports of local health agents. The historical collection of the Museum of the Federal Institute of Santa Catarina was visited, with access to testimonies of former residents of the settlement. The study reveals elements of past and present in the rural school of Vila Nova, which constitute a continuous trajectory with contradictions that do not differ from Brazilian reality in the rural childhood education: promises of better living conditions for the rural population that do not materialize, precarious infrastructure, insufficient care that excludes day care, great distances, the problem of school transportation and lack of planning for work in schools in the countryside.
Keywords:
Childhood education; Rural education; Rural settlements