Decolonialidade, culturas das infâncias e educação infantil: reflexões teóricas e experiências relacionadas ao brincar em um centro de educação infantil do campo

Abstract

This study is grounded in the understanding that coloniality constitutes a form of subjugation over Latin American peoples, oppressing even young children, their childhoods, games and cultural productions, in the context of Early Childhood Education, making it necessary to confront it. The general objective of the research was to investigate, based on Cultural Studies of Childhood, the processes of coloniality and decoloniality in childhood and in the experiences of young children, through the articulation between theoretical investigation and empirical studies carried out in the context of an Early Childhood Education institution, focusing on the speeches and interactions between children and educators during outdoor play, aiming at the construction of decolonial educational perspectives. Three studies made up the research, each with its own objective and methodological design, based on a qualitative approach. Study 1 aimed to analyze the potential of Childhood Cultural Studies for understanding the coloniality and decoloniality of young children’s childhoods, as well as for constructing a decolonial Early Childhood Education. To carry out this study, a theoretical research approach was adopted. The findings highlighted the potential of using studies on children’s cultural productions both to understand the coloniality of childhoods and to support decolonial processes for young children’s childhoods. It concluded that the main strategy of the coloniality of childhood is the coloniality of play, with adultcentrism as its primary instrument; however, it also indicated that play is where children manifest many of their strategies to confront and overcome adult-centric coloniality. These findings constitute important contributions toward the construction of a decolonial Early Childhood Education. Study 2 was organized with the objective of understanding colonial and decolonial processes related to childhoods through the analysis of relationships among peers and with educators in outdoor spaces of a CMEI (Municipal Early Childhood Education Center) in a rural community. Participant observation, inspired by ethnography and combined with research methodologies involving children, was chosen as the methodological procedure. The collected data were analyzed and organized into three categories: 1) Coloniality and outdoor play; 2) Aspects that contribute to the construction of decolonial processes; 3) Children’s decolonial strategies. The results and conclusions highlighted the existence of multiple dimensions that positively or negatively affect decolonial processes related to childhood and play in Early Childhood Education; the presence of colonial-adultcentric acts by educators; the occurrence of (re)production of these acts by children; the verification that children employ decolonial strategies while playing and producing cultures; and the observation that children make proposals for a decolonial Early Childhood Education through their multiple languages.Study 3 sought to understand dialogues of young children through questions related to play, involving aspects of coloniality and decoloniality within an Early Childhood Education institution. This empirical investigation was guided by research methodologies involving children. The research locus was a class of 5-year-old children from the same CMEI as in Study 2. Methodologically, five discussion circles were conducted to actively listen to the children. Analysis of children’s perspectives revealed that, although influenced by colonial patterns reproducing racial and gender stereotypes, as well as adult-centric organization of time and space, they are also potentially reflective, creative, and revolutionary. Children’s accounts of their play showed that they are not passive reproducers of imposed norms, often resisting prohibitions. Moreover, they demonstrated interest in non-purchased toys and rural games, revealing a decolonial creative potential that challenges the consumerist logic imposed by the modern-colonial-capitalist system and values local knowledge and experiences. In summary, this thesis presents itself as a theoretical, political, and pedagogical instrument in pursuit of the decoloniality of childhoods, play, and Early Childhood Education, providing support for the construction of a decolonial Early Childhood Education.