This research on the participation of mothers on the School Council of the Amor de Mãe Municipal Early Childhood Education Centre seeks to understand the relationship between their conceptions and practices of participation as councillors. Taking a historical-philosophical approach, we work with real, non-idealised people, getting closer to the way of being and living of the mother councillors in their homes, as well as their conceptions and practices on the School Council. We describe data, habits, cultural practices, meanings, and values of the people involved based on interviews; documentary and photographic collections; local and national legislation; notebooks from the National Programme for Strengthening School Councils; and a database of dissertations and theses from the UFRN Graduate Programme in Education that deal with democratic management and the school-family relationship. The study points to the existence of a narrative that portrays mothers as 'absent' or 'passive' when, in practice, they participate effectively in the school. This contradiction reveals the existence of a historically constructed school mentality rooted in a model of family and school that differs from the reality found in this childcare centre.
