O brincar na educação infantil numa escola de educação infantil do/no campo: um estudo acerca da potencialidade do baú brincante na comunidade indígena Tupinambá em Ilhéus-Bahia

Abstract

The aim of this study was to understand how children from the Tupinambá indigenous community of Olivença, in the south of Bahia, produce games using unstructured toys in a rural nursery school. It also sought to analyze the reverberations caused by the Baú Brincante - a playful device - in the production of games and the strengthening of children's cultures. The methodology followed a qualitative approach, using existential action research as its method. The following research procedures and devices were used: participant observation, records of children's interactions through teachers' diaries, sensitive listening, photographs, filming and interviews. The participants were kindergarten children (groups 4 and 5) and teachers from the Sérgio Carneiro Municipal School. The theoretical foundation was based on authors such as Brougère (1998, 2008, 2010), Corsaro (2002, 2003, 2005, 2009), d'Ávila (2018), Luckesi (1998, 2022), Benjamin (1984, 1992) and J.J. Gibson (1979, 2002) who discuss play as a cultural practice, playfulness and the language of childhood. The basic concepts of Freire's critical pedagogy are seen as fundamental in the development of the research and in the preparation and analysis of the data constructed with the children and educators (FREIRE, 1996). The results showed that Baú Brincante encouraged make-believe games that re-signified local cultural elements. The games also reinforced values such as child protagonism in the production of play, collectivity and the connection with Tupinambá culture. The teachers re-evaluated their practices, recognizing play as an essential right and the central language of childhood. The thesis of this work is that the play chest, as an artifact that enhances playful experiences, favors important connections between the local context (school) and the broader sociocultural context (family, social), thus fostering the expansion of children's play culture in the researched community and strengthening the children's cultural identity.