PEDAGOGY OF ALTERNATION – INTEGRATION BETWEEN COUNTRYSIDE, FAMILY, AND SCHOOL IN THE FORMATION OF RURAL SUBJECTS

Abstract

Rural education, throughout history, has been marked by processes of invisibilization and pedagogical marginalization, producing asymmetries in access, training, and school retention of rural youth compared to their urban counterparts. In this context, the Pedagogy of Alternation emerges as an innovative educational strategy that articulates school time and community time, promoting sociocultural bonds, contextualized learning, and youth protagonism. This proposal is based on the integration between technical and human formation, having as its principles sustainability, associativism, and the valorization of peasant identities. The methodology of alternation allows the student to experience training periods in two complementary spaces – the school and the community – developing activities guided by monitors and pedagogical projects linked to rural reality and family life. Thus, this article aims to analyze how the Pedagogy of Alternation contributes to the formation of rural subjects capable of remaining in and transforming their territories, constructing knowledge applicable to coexistence with the semi-arid environment and strengthening sociocultural belonging. The research stems from the question: how does the integration between school, family, and community foster integral learning, protagonism, and the permanence of young people in rural areas, expanding their future opportunities without breaking with their cultural roots? Theoretically, it draws on the works of Freire (2014a; 2014b; 2014c), Molina (2006), Caldart (2000; 2001; 2009; 2012), Primavesi (2002), Santos (2008; 2020), Martins (2020), Frigotto (1989), Gimonet (2007; 2008), García-Marirrodriga and Puig-Calvó (2011), Begnami (2022), Epstein (2018), Gadotti (2002), Caliari (2013), Andrade (2017), Granereau (2020), Arroyo (2012), Angelo (2017), Brito (2022), Clarice Santos (2008), Foerste and Schütz-Foerste (2014), Altieri and Farrell (2018), among others. The methodology is qualitative, based on Minayo (2007), descriptive and bibliographic according to Gil (2008), with a comprehensive analytical approach following Weber (1949). The findings reveal that the Pedagogy of Alternation enhances youth permanence in rural areas by integrating school, family, and community in a contextualized, affective, and emancipatory formative process. This methodology strengthens rural identity, broadens autonomy, and promotes meaningful learning connected to territory and sustainability. It was also found that alternation helps reduce school dropout rates and develop technical and social competencies focused on cooperative and solidarity-based work. Furthermore, it is evident that rural education, when rooted in participatory practices, becomes an instrument of resistance and cultural reexistence.