CARTOGRAFIA ESCOLAR, UMA LINGUAGEM DA GEOGRAFIA ESCOLAR.

This article discusses cartography and geographical education, considering cartography as one of the languages of Geography, particularly in school contexts. It explores initial understandings of this relationship based on the premises of geographical education. The paper presents a school atlas of the municipality of Ijuí-RS, designed for elementary school students, and shares results from interviews with teachers highlighting their memories and current teaching approaches. The data reflects the reality of school education, which is traditionally characterized by cartography as a visual element with practices such as coloring maps and compass roses, and drawing outlines, serving as an aid in various disciplinary contents with an interdisciplinary character; and more recently, as an instrumental and technological tool in the context of active methodologies, and as a language of geography for conducting geographical analyses. The conclusion is that in school cartography, it is important to nurture the idea of cartographic literacy, reinforcing the habit of spatial awareness, thereby constructing spatial thinking that integrates information with a critical attitude, producing knowledge guided by geographical thought. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]