This paper aims to discuss the possible link between teaching and research in the teacher's practice in the first years of the Elementary School. The study was based on the conception of research as an educational principle, developed by Demo, on Freire and Giroux' understanding of the social role of the school. The research was conducted in a Municipal Elementary School in the city of Campinas. The geographic localization and the recent history of this school motivated the search for alternatives to improve students' learning, to solve structural problems and social conflicts originated by the claim for vacancies for students living in an occupied area. Taking research as an alternative for their work, the experience reported here lead to conclude that it is possible to develop a pedagogical practice in the Elementary School articulating teaching and research, and taking research as a way to promote the student's intellectual and integral development, as well as the integration between the school and its community.
Elementary School; Teaching through Research; Learning and Teaching
