Educação infantil e pesquisa acadêmica: dilemas visíveis e invisíveis

Abstract

The article presents some dilemmas experienced by researchers and managers who investigate problems and issues related to education as they propose solutions “for”, “with” and “about” children, infancy and childhood education. This work seeks to show that, in education, the object of the research is the object of the action and vice-versa. The harsh reality of elementary schools goes beyond the research, the training projects and public policies, thus demanding specific questions that require specific answers, without claiming to universalize theses and propositions. The text aims at discussing three research dilemmas: 1) the production of new knowledge; 2) the approximation between academic studies and the reality of elementary education schools; and 3) the relationship between theoretical assumptions and methodological procedures. To this end, Ítalo Calvino’s metaphor of the invisible cities is used as well as a philosophical perspective that sustains a dialectical view of thinking and action. As a result, the work shows a set of reflections that could somehow contribute towards confronting visible and invisible dilemmas in research on children, infancy and childhood education.