Estratégias de entrada e permanência no grupo de crianças: caminhos para interagir

Abstract

This article aims to reflect on the interactions between five and six year old children in the environment of a Municipal School of Early Childhood Education (EMEI), in Belo Horizonte/Minas Gerais (Brazil), focusing on establishing relationships that sought to create bonds, pointing out the strategies they used to gain access and permanence in peer groups. For this study, a multidisciplinary theoretical reference was chosen based on contemporary studies on Childhood and Early Childhood Education, with special emphasis on Childhood Sociology, and supported by Social Psychology studies. A qualitative research was conducted having as main instruments the participant observation of the children's group, with records in a field diary and video recording; and semi-structured interview with the group's teachers. The information analysis revealed a strong relationship between the available space and artifacts and the way children organized themselves in more or less stable groups. The strategies of request/ invitation and interference were also highlighted as the main actions for entering the peer group and dialogue and cooperation as the main permanence strategies. The help strategy was perceived in both categories. It was also identified that, from the perspective of the children researched, integrating a group meant to be friends of the participants.