A Escola Educ Centro de Educação Criadora: uma proposta pedagógica humanista e ecológica no contexto das transformações da educação contemporânea

Abstract

Educ School Creative Education Center was an educational institution founded in 1978 by the psychologists and educators Daniel and Ottília Antipoff. It worked until the year 2007, with a humanistic pedagogical proposal as well as ecological aimed at students from nursery school to elementary school. This research aimed to address the history of this educational institution, identifying its objectives and its pedagogical proposal, especially as it was worked out the inclusion of children with High Abilities / Giftedness and the evaluation of their students. It was sought to understand the meaning of having studied in this school for some former students. Methodological procedures used: Analysis of documents (articles written by its founders, minutes of meetings, School Rules, Pedagogical Proposal; teachers reports; folders to publicize; photographs and other random documents) and semi-structured interviews with seven former students, submitted to content analysis. The documents were found in the archives of Daniel and Ottília Antipoff, which are under the custody of the family; in the Helena Antipoff Documentation and Research Center (CDPHA) archives located at the Helena Antipoff Memorial (in Ibirité) and in the Helena Antipoff room (located at the Central Library of the Federal University of Minas Gerais). The results indicate that the Educ School was not the only one and did not appear alone in this movement for school renovation. By the reception of knowledge that circulated around the world, its pedagogical proposal was elaborated from Russian theoretical inspirations (Alexandre Lazursky), North American (Carl Rogers, Lewis Terman, Leta Stetter Hollingworth and Catharine Cox Milles) and from Geneva (Edourad Claparede and Jean Piaget), under the influence of Helena Antipoff. In an active and critical way, this knowledge that circulated was being received and incorporated into the pedagogical proposal of the Educ School, resulting in a specific educational framework. Recognized as an Ecological School, with education focused on nature, it marked its originality and specificity in the freedom and closeness with which its students interacted daily with the natural environment that surrounded it. With a specific architectural design, the internal and external environments interconnected favoring a learning marked by the encounter with the natural. Having the child and his interest as the focus of the learning process, individualized teaching, in fact, also left its mark of specificity in this educational proposal, since it favored the construction of meaningful relationships, closeness and affection not only among the students but also among the teachers. Thus fostering the dialogue and the building of democratic relations. Having the happiness of its students as one of his educational aims, and the pleasure of studying as a goal, Educ School sought to fulfill its academic curriculum supported by a teaching methodology carried out through study projects in which theory and practice interconnected whenever possible. The emphasis on the playing free as well as on the creativity and freedom of expression have also been identified as peculiar to Educ's identity. It was possible to establish a dialogue between two aspects of the pedagogical proposal of the school and some identified challenges in the contemporary educational context. These are: a specific methodology for the teaching of gifted children and the evaluation of learning using natural experimentation. Regarding the meaning of the experience of having been a student of Educ, it was verified that the moments lived in this school, were identified as pleasant and happy, referring to the memories of a childhood lived with lightness and spontaneity in apleasant place to be, being considered in their differences, with freedom, in contact with nature and close to significant people. In addition, the learning moments were related to the pleasure of learning in a different way, contextualized, related to the practice and, often, playful. These aspects favored the construction of a positive self-esteem in its students. The results of this research could contribute with new data regarding the education of children with high skills / giftedness in the regular school and the evaluation. Furthermore, it highlights the importance of "pedagogical tasks" different from those traditional sayings, for the construction of happy learning paths for children.