Avaliação do brincar e das práticas corporais na infância em uma escola pública em Fortaleza (CE): corpo e movimento em foco a partir de uma pesquisa-ação

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate, using the action research method, how play and bodily practices contribute to the learning process of children in the Infantil III class at the Nossa Senhora de Guadalupe Early Childhood Education Center, in light of the principles established by the National Early Childhood Education Policy. Developed in a municipal public school in Fortaleza, the study falls within the field of evaluation of public educational policies and seeks to reflect on how national and municipal guidelines for Early Childhood Education are materialized in daily pedagogical practices. The research adopted a qualitative approach, based on action research, in which the teacher-researcher acted participatively in the daily life of the Infantil III class, promoting interventions, observations, and collective reflections. In-depth evaluation, as described by Rodrigues (2008), was used to analyze the institutional context, bodily practices, and their effects on school time and space. The results indicated that the body constitutes an essential language of expression and learning, and that play represents a structuring axis of the child's integral development. Even in the face of infrastructure limitations, bodily activities proved powerful for motor, cognitive, emotional, and social development, favoring autonomy, creativity, and cooperation. As a product of the research, the guide "Movement that Teaches: Guide to Bodily Practices for Learning in Early Childhood Education (Infantil III)" was developed, systematizing fifteen pedagogical proposals tested in a real context. The guide is configured as a support and teacher training instrument, of a reflective and evaluative nature, aimed at the integration between theory and practice and the valuing of corporeality as a fundamental dimension of education. The investigation also highlighted challenges in the implementation of the BNCC principles, especially regarding the valuing of the body and play in school practices, and emphasized the need for continuing education that addresses corporeality in childhood. It is concluded that strengthening bodily practices contributes to the implementation of more sensitive and inclusive public educational policies, capable of promoting meaningful learning and the integral development of children, reaffirming the right to learn through movement.