A constituição do olhar docente sobre a criança e a Educação Infantil: um estudo de caso

Abstract

The responsibility and significance of teaching children aged 0–5, and the importance of caring for and educating young children as a result, the way teachers approach teaching is related to their view on children and early childhood education. This study presents a research case to understand how a teacher’s view is formed, its origins, needs, and relation with the practices in a Municipal Early Childhood Education Center in Manaus. Owing to comprehending the formation of a new teacher’s view for a transformative education, which favors school as a place of learning, human and formation development. The location research presents differential work, raises concerns about holistic education, and seeks a public democratic school. The study addresses the following research question: how does the development of a new teacher’s view about children and early childhood education, and implications for pedagogical practices, emerge from this process, particularly regarding the organization of spaces, times, materials, and relations established in the Municipal Early Childhood Education Center Hermann Gmeiner? Thus, the study established the following objectives: (i) to identify, from teachers’ perspectives, the needs that motivate the search for new understandings of children and early childhood education at the Municipal Early Childhood Education Center Hermann Gmeiner; and (ii) to analyze how these perspectives are reflected in teachers’ pedagogical practices, particularly in the organization of space, time, materials, and interactions. The methodology used was literature review, bibliometric analysis, and fieldwork. As data collection tools were literature review, document analysis, oral reports collected through interviews, and participant observation of pedagogical practices. The study involved three early childhood education teachers who teach children aged three and four, two principals (the previous and the current), and an educator. The data consisted of 1) the research participants' statements, 2) observed episodes and their extraverbal context, analyzed according to Cultural-Historical theory and dialectical and historical materialism. The results indicate that the formation of a perspective on children and early childhood education depends on social, cultural, and historical elements from the teacher’s reality. On the history of Municipal Early Childhood Education Center Hermann Gmeiner, the idea of holistic education, and democratic school contribute to a shift in the perspective, which is reflected in teachers’ practices, and the daily life of the school. The study concludes that the change in the teacher’s view may conceal the obviousness of everyday school life. Therefore, early childhood educators need to critically question these apparent certainties to promote educational practices that support children’s full human development.