O papel das brincadeiras na visão de uma professora de crianças de quatro anos

Abstract

The present study aims to investigate the role of playing games in the daily lives of 4-year-old children in the view of a teacher from a Municipal Unit of Early Childhood Education - Unidade Municipal de Educação Infantil from Belo Horizonte and enable an intervention in her pedagogical practice. The theoretical assumptions of this study are based on the ideas of Lev Semionovich Vygotsky (2008) and Tizuko Morchida Kishimoto (2010). According to these authors, children develop themselves mainly through the activity of playing games, because this activity is the element of learning, which enables the exploration of the environment and interaction with each other, thus constituting their development. This research had the participation of 4-year-old children and the teacher leading this class. The work methodology is founded on action research, which enables through studies and exploration the understanding and awareness of the practices performed in their everyday life, making changes possible and improving the researched context. Observations were carried out in the everyday life of the class, focusing at the moments when the children played. Data collection instruments used were: notes, photographs, footages and interviews with the teacher and students. From the data collected, it was possible to realize that in her speech the teacher is aware of the studies that comprehend childrens plays as a fundamental resource for childrens development. However, her practice revealed that the games occupied another place; her daily practices did not match her speech. The playing time in the classroom occurred in the moments when the teacher needed to dedicate herself to the organization of her work and routine. In this sense, an intervention plan with the goal of making the teacher realize the importance of playing games in childrens development process was developed. At the end of the study, it was possible to conclude that the observation of the childrens plays at different times and spaces of the school and the attitudes of professionals facing these situations are important sources for reflection and a possible way of starting to modify her own practice. Children have the right to play and understand them as a subject of rights is to provide them a quality playing time and that includes time, space, materials, teacher training, and especially encouraging. All this has its influence in the teachers mediation and should be taken into consideration.