This article explores interpretations of schooling as produced by 6-12-year-old children in a rural Zambian community. Applying linguistic-anthropological analyses of their peer interactions, the author discusses symbolic reworkings of schooling and "educatedness" among children frequently labeled as "slow" or "backwards" in the classroom setting and national discourse. This discussion includes the apparent disparities between the tangible and symbolic roles of school in the context of the children's lifeworlds and future horizons.