Análise historiográfica da representação de infância nas Diretrizes Curriculares Municipais da Educação Infantil de Uberlândia (MG) 2020

Abstract

The research entitled “Historical Analysis of the Representation of Childhood in the Municipal Curriculum Guidelines for Early Childhood Education of Uberlândia (MG) 2020”, from the Programa de Pós-graduação em Educação (PPGED), from Faculdade de Educação (Faced) na Universidade Federal de Uberlândia (UFU), is situated within the research line History and Historiography of Education, and has as its general objective to analyze the representation of Childhood expressed in Diretrizes Curriculares Municipais da Educação Infantil de Uberlândia (MG) 2020 and how they dialogue with educational Public Policies, identifying implications for curricular organization and pedagogical practices directed toward children’s rights at the municipal level. Regarding the specific objectives, the study sought to trace the history of childhood in different periods, from classical philosophy to contemporary references; to analyze the trajectory of Early Childhood Education in Brazil, from the colonial period to contemporaneity; to examine international, national, and state legislation and agreements aimed at the protection and promotion of children’s rights in childhood; to contextualize the history of Public Policies and municipal Curriculum Guidelines that contributed to structuring children’s educational access; to critically analyze the Diretrizes Curriculares Municipais da Educação Infantil de Uberlândia, 2020 version, investigating the representation of Childhood and articulating legal, historical, philosophical, and educational perspectives, in order to trace convergences and divergences in curricular organization and within the local educational sphere. The study was developed through a qualitative approach, grounded in historical-dialectical materialism, using methodological procedures of bibliographic and documentary analysis (Gil, 2019) and the content analysis technique (Bardin, 2011). Thus, it analyzes the Early Childhood Education curriculum document implemented in Uberlândia in 2020, articulating international, national, and state (Minas Gerais) legal frameworks, such as the Federal Constitution (1988), the Child and Adolescent Statute (1990), the Law of Guidelines and Bases of Education (1996), the National Common Core Curriculum (2017), the Minas Gerais Reference Curriculum (2018), among others. To this end, it encompasses different historical periods, from classical philosophies (Plato, Aristotle, Saint Augustine, and Saint Thomas Aquinas), modern thinkers (Comenius, Rousseau, Pestalozzi, Froebel), to contemporary scholars (Montessori, Piaget, Vygotsky, Freinet, Wallon, and Rogers), evidencing how the social representation of childhood has transformed throughout history. The study highlights that, in Brazil, Early Childhood Education moved from an assistentialist perspective toward the consolidation of a constitutionally guaranteed legal right, expanding as the “First Stage of Basic Education”. In the context of Uberlândia, curricular proposals from 1987, 2003, and 2020 were identified; in this context, a reflective analysis focused on the latest version, in which possibilities and challenges were identified. For this purpose, the thematic categories – History, Philosophy, Politics, and Education – made it possible to problematize current tensions, referring to neoliberal rationalities. The results indicated that, although the Municipal Curriculum Guidelines of Uberlândia (MG) 2020 dialogue with principles of plurality, equity, and integrality of child development, obstacles still persist regarding curricular guidance, the implementation of emancipatory pedagogical practices, and the guarantee of children’s full rights. It is concluded that the representation of childhood, as a historical subject endowed with rights, requires critical and constant revision of the curriculum document, in order to strengthen educational Public Policies and the implementation of pedagogical proposals that consider the child as the protagonist of the teaching-learning process, ensuring a public, free, and socially referenced education.