O brincar na creche sob o ponto de vista dos bebês

Abstract

This dissertation is based on the understanding that infants need to be viewed in terms of their potential, their capabilities, and the contexts in which they live. It recognizes that children up to 18 months old become increasingly human, capable of communicating and expressing their feelings and needs through opportunities for interaction with others and with culture. Play is seen as a promoter of learning and development and constitutes one of the child's main activities. Joining the efforts of other researchers who seek to give greater visibility to infants, valuing their perspective on the world they live in and the phenomena that occur in it, this research aimed to understand how play occurs in the daycare setting from the perspective of the infants. Specifically, it aimed to understand, from the infants' perspective, how, where, and when play happens in the daycare; to identify what and with what materials play happens in the daycare; and to identify the strategies used for play in the daycare. The study engages with the Sociointeractionist approach to Human Development and Learning, particularly the works of Wallon (1995; 2007; 2008) and Vygotsky (1998), as well as contributions from the Sociology of Childhood (Pinto, 1997; Sarmento, 2005, among others). It is a qualitative study inspired by the case study technique, conducted in a group of children aged 1 to 2 years old in a public daycare center in Fortaleza, CE. Data generation strategies included participatory observation with videography, written records in a field diary, and the construction of portfolios. Data analysis revealed that the infants spent a significant part of their morning routine at the daycare engaged in self-initiated play, often solitary, in pairs, and in some cases, collective, demonstrating curiosity, independence, and interaction capability. Play occurred in various environments within the daycare, both in wide-open spaces like the courtyard and in more contained areas like the reference room. The timing of play varied, occurring during both planned activities within the routine, such as bathing and designated playtime, and in transition moments between activities, such as when heading to the cafeteria and waiting for teacher-coordinated activities to conclude. The strategies used by the infants to play mostly included autonomous and solitary exploration of available objects and spaces, which triggered various social interactions depending on the object being explored and the relationships the "explorer" established with it and with nearby peers. The dissertation also confirmed the challenge of conducting research that aims to listen to children from their earliest ages, given the "illiteracy" of adult researchers in the multiple languages of infants. It also highlighted the use of the portfolio in research with children as a tool capable of making their potential for exploration, communication, expression, and creativity visible in a suitably planned environment. All these findings underscore the need for further research that focuses on better understanding infants' perspectives on play and the organization of more responsive and empathetic educational environments that foster the full development of children from their earliest years.