The object of this study is the experience of the ancient Marambaia School, which existed from 1939 until 1970, at Marambaia Island, in Mangaratiba, Rio de Janeiro. The school was founded in order to provide fishing professional education to the children of the traditional fishermen who lived in the island and also in different regions of the Brazilian coast. We consider that the school was very important to that community, and that it was a singular experience of industrial education in Brazil.Our purpose is to understand the context and the reasons why the school project was established and finished. This research is a case study with historical approach, which combines bibliographical analysis, documental analysis and oral history. Moreover, we aim to investigate the whole school operation - administratively and pedagogically. Therefore, the chapters of this dissertation analyze the political and ideological context of the time when the school was founded, and also the relations between the school and the community, the school culture, and how this culture was perceived and rescued in the memory of the school’s ex-students and employees, who even nowadays have associations that celebrate the social bonds established by means of this culture.