In this dissertation, I shall address the concepts of learning to read and write (alfabetização) and literacy on the basis of an analysis of the teaching practices developed by three public school teachers of 1st to 3rd grade children, in Niterói. The issues discussed in the text are based on Magda Soares attempt, over the last twenty years, to build a dialogue between the two concepts, as well as Paulo Freire s view that learning to read and write is a political and ideological issue. The procedures adopted in the research included theoretical based studies and systematic analysis of the subjects classroom practice, as well as interviews with them. The results indicate that the teaching of reading and writing presents contradictions. Anthropology was used in order to understand these contradictions, since this area of knowledge derives its understanding of phenomena from the analysis of the subjects rationale. As the institution responsible for the teaching of reading and writing, schools invest more effort in the teaching of techniques of reading and writing than the development of reading and writing practices. Nevertheless, literature seems to be an alternative for the development of form as well as of concepts regarding literacy and the learning of reading and writing. Proposals for the development of social practices involving written language reveal a need for reflection on the ideological nature of the process of literacy.