Alfabetização científica na Educação Infantil envolvendo espaços não formais

Abstract

This dissertation, developed within the Graduate Program in Education at the Federal University of Uberlândia (PPGED/UFU), in the research line "Education in Sciences and Mathematics", addresses the potential of non-formal spaces for scientific literacy in Early Childhood Education. The research problem was guided by the following question: What are the contributions of non-formal spaces to the constitution of scientific literacy processes in an Early Childhood Education school, based on the pedagogical practice of the teacher-researcher? The general objective consisted of understanding the potential of non-formal spaces for scientific literacy in Early Childhood Education, based on the teacher's own pedagogical practice. The study specifically sought to map and analyze academic productions on the scientific education of Early Childhood Education teachers through a systematic literature review, and to cartographically map pedagogical practice, considering moments of scientific literacy in non-formal spaces. The research was characterized as qualitative and organized into three stages. The first one addressed the systematic literature review, aimed at mapping academic productions on the scientific education of Early Childhood Education teachers. The second one comprised the development and cartographic monitoring of three experiences carried out within Early Childhood Education children, in a second -period class at a public municipal school in Uberlândia (MG). Data production was obtained through field diary records, photographs, children's drawings, and (auto)biographical narratives written by the teacher-researcher. The third stage corresponded to the analysis of these experiences, based on cartography as a method. The results showed that non-formal spaces, such as the school yard, the school parking lot, and out-of-school spaces such as the DMAE Fazendinha, when traversed by a pedagogical intentionality oriented toward inquiry, fostered manifestations of scientific literacy, expressed in the formulation of hypotheses, observation, argumentation, explanationbuilding, and the construction of relationships by the children. The research also highlighted that the educational potential of spaces does not reside solely in their physical characteristics, but in the mediations established by the teacher and the children, also contributing to the formation of the teacher-researcher and to the resignification of different school environments as territories of scientific learning. The research further indicated that this pedagogical intentionality depends on teacher education that articulates disciplinary knowledge and specific pedagogical knowledge for Early Childhood Education, also built through the exercise of practice. It can be concluded that scientific literacy in childhood can emerge from non-formal spaces, understood here as every space beyond the classroom, whether inside the school itself or outside it, provided they are inhabited with intentionality, evidencing the relevance of recognizing, in teacher education and practice, the investigative potential present in everyday school life.