Peasant voices and lived territory: community narratives as a methodological tool in Rural Education

Abstract

This article analyzes the experience of Workshop 1 “Peasant Voices: Memories and Experiences”, developed as part of a master’s research project in Education and Diversity, which adopted the Inventory of Reality as a methodological tool in the teaching of Geography. The workshop focused on the production of community narratives and pedagogical letters, developed by students based on their lived experiences and dialogues with older residents of rural communities in the municipality of Santo Estêvão, Bahia, Brazil. The results show that the mobilization of collective memory and local knowledge contributed to understanding territory as a lived space, shaped by social relations, affections, identities, and forms of resistance. The writing of community histories and pedagogical letters strengthened student protagonism, fostered the development of investigative and discursive skills, and articulated school knowledge with territorial experiences. Grounded in authors such as Caldart (2004; 2012; 2015), Freire (1986; 1987), Santos (2003) and Lefebvre (1974), the study demonstrates the formative potential of the workshop as a critical pedagogical practice in Rural Education.