Ciências da natureza e políticas curriculares na Educação Infantil: um panorama em países Sul-Americanos

Abstract

With important achievements throughout history, it is recognized that Early Childhood Education is an important stage for children, with direct impacts on multiple aspects of child development. In this context, South American countries (Brazil, Argentina, Colombia and Chile) present Early Childhood Education Curricular Policies that are evolving, demonstrating that they value Science Education themes for this stage of Education. The development of this study occurred based on the following question: How has Science Education been addressed in Early Childhood Education curricular documents in South American countries? To this end, the general objective of this research was to analyze how Science Education permeates official documents and curricular contributions in Early Childhood Education in South American countries. The specific objectives deal with: 1) identifying Public Policies in Brazilian and South American documents (Argentina, Colombia and Chile), through a bibliographic study; and 2) carry out a bibliographic study, in the Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (BDTD), regarding curricular theories present in Science Education and the use of Textbooks in Early Childhood Education. The research is divided into two articles and is a qualitative approach, the first article being a documentary analysis: Brazilian guiding curricular documents: RCNEI, DCNEI and BNCC, as well as documents from South American countries Centers Learning Priorities (NAP, Argentina), General Education Law (Law 115, Colombia) and Curricular Bases for Secondary Education (Chile). The research allows us to conclude that the countries analyzed have Early Childhood Education Curricular Policies, but in relation to Brazil we have prominent curricular regulations in accordance with the three documents (RCNEI, DCNEI, BNCC). In Argentina, there is no policy that is unique across the country, each state has its autonomy. In this way, the NAP has the pedagogical proposal and central knowledge, incorporated as teaching objects. In Colombia, Law 115 provides for a permanent project of pedagogical construction and research and, in Chile, the Curricular Bases for Parvularia Education have consolidated themselves as a symbol of the State's commitment to childhood education and present knowledge that should be enhanced in institutions that serve children. The documents were studied looking for approximations and similarities between South American Countries, in some categories: Terminology of Early Childhood Education, Division by age group, Curricular Documents, Social Conception of Childhood and the Role of the State. Also, seeking to highlight Science Education themes in the Curricular Documents, we present excerpts taken from the documents and, highlighting the Environment and the Human Body. In the second article, based on the results of the literature review research at BDTD, we found that the works analyzed (eight dissertations and two theses) express curriculum concepts, such as: Traditional (5:10), followed by Critical (4: 10) and, finally, by the Post-Criticisms (1:10). Regarding the presence of the Textbook, it was possible to identify that the vast majority of works did not show its use, except more recently. The research also pointed to the lack of discussions in Postgraduate Programs on Science Education and the role of Textbooks in Early Childhood Education.