ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the processes by which a decaying urban area in São Paulo, Brazil was transformed into a vibrant community/school through the creation of sociocultural spaces where the right of expression has been made sovereign. Projeto Aprendiz (Project Apprentice), as it is called, was created in 1997 by Gilberto Dimenstein, a renowned journalist with a vision to end dualisms between school and community and to instill social investment (citizenship) among the residents of a deprecated area punctuated by violence, educational inequities, and social contradictions materialized by the lavish homes and the many favelas (slums) coexisting alongside one another in the same street block.
