Nas trilhas da imaginação: o brincar de faz-de-conta na educação infantil

Abstract

The aim of this study was to understand the practices related to make-believe play in early childhood education. For a long time, children were not even understood as subjects, and for a long time they were seen as miniature adults. Today, we have an understanding of the child who not only interacts with and suffers the action of culture, but also produces it. Furthermore, we understand that the definitions of child and childhood are distinct and that the child is a historical, cultural being with rights. In the cultural-historical perspective formulated by Lev Semenovich Vygotsky, make-believe play is mentioned as the main activity that promotes development, as it allows children to explore and reinterpret the experiences they have in everyday life based on the interactions they establish and the culture they are part of and produce. The teacher is seen as responsible for mediation, acting in the child's zone of proximal development. Methodologically, this work is characterized as field research, with a qualitative approach and exploratory objectives. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data, which was answered in person by the teachers. Four teachers who worked in early childhood education in classes III, IV and V took part in the study. The theoretical basis was based on studies by Beltrame (2021), Sousa (2022), Feldman and Souza (2011), Pacheco (2020), Souza, Sobrinho and Herran (2017), Salva and Beltrame (2021), Prestes (2011), among others. As a result, the research pointed to teachers' understanding of make-believe play as a time when children can experience different roles, interpreting and reinterpreting the various situations they witness in their daily lives. When they play make-believe, the teachers use spaces called 'corners'. These 'corners' have different elements that refer to elements such as: a house, a doctor, a veterinarian, etc. In addition, in their planning, teachers set aside specific moments for this kind of play. As final considerations, we understand that when teachers have a broader understanding of childhood and play and are guided by theories that recognize children as active, historical subjects with rights, educational practices tend to value the cultural repertoire that is inserted and was produced by that child, thus reflecting an appreciation of the cultural aspects that involve make-believe play and the potential of the experiences led by the children in the experience and their reinterpretations.