Following an analysis of the literature on the operation of institutions within society and of the school as an institution, this exploratory study examined Brazilian students' perceptions of school and life in light of school's structural aspects, such as bureaucratic organization and social/political functions. The orientations of Pierre Erny, Bruno Duborgel, and Max Pages were used as a theoretical/methodological basis in exploring how schools are organized according to first- and fourth-grade students, their teachers, and school headmasters. Discourse analysis of student drawings on "Me and School" and "So Is Life" was completed using themes of: to like or not like school, financial difficulties, life conditions, violence, home, illnesses, death, poverty, alcoholism, drugs, hunger, prejudice, concern, and politics. Teachers and headmasters were also interviewed. These data were supplemented with demographic data about the school. The drawings indicated that school is a space of sociality for children, with a weak relationship between children and the school sometimes indicated (through a lack of depiction of the school building or teacher, for example). Children were distressed over many aspects of their lives, such as illness, violence, and lack of money. The study also found strong indications that teachers and headmasters ignore the life lived in each school. The study concludes that when schools do not perceive the whole complexity within their walls and outside them, they become organizations devoted to perpetuating themselves rather than furthering their original goals. (Contains 19 references in Portuguese.) (EV)