This article puts forth the representation of school in a group of poor children throughout their first year in school. Interviews were introduced and adaptations of two procedures (Story-draws and Stories to be completed) were utilized. The analysis showed that the representation had a negative progress. Classroom observations and interviews made with teachers revealed pedagogical incompetence and negative attitudes towards the impoverished child and his or her family. The parents, who see in the child’s academic career a hope for better days to come, try to shape the child according to the mold established by the school. The result is academic failure and the diminishing of the children’s self-esteem.
Representation; Schools; Teacher-student relationships; School failure