Significados das ações de cuidado e educação por professoras e auxiliares da creche

Abstract

This article aims to analyze the meanings attributed by teachers and assistants in Early Childhood Education to the care and educational actions developed with babies and young children in a daycare center in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais. To this end, we employed participant observation of the work context and interviews with six teachers and one assistant. As a theoretical framework, we articulate references from the field of Early Childhood Education and studies of care from a feminist perspective. The results show that the meanings attributed by the participants reveal tensions between the public and domestic spheres, with a strong division between care and education. Among the meanings, the recognition of aides as the sole responsible for the physical care work of children stands out, as well as the valorization of learning this work outside institutional educational environments.