PLAY IN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION: NECESSARY REFLECTIONS

Abstract

The article is an excerpt from a master's thesis in education sciences at Universidad Del Sol - Unades. Its objective was to evaluate pedagogical aspects (curricular and didactic) of play in Nursery II classes at a municipal daycare center in the city of Campina Grande, Paraíba. The research was guided by the following central question: how have daycare centers been conducting play, in didactic-pedagogical and curricular terms, in Nursery II classes in the municipal school system of the city of Campina Grande, Paraíba? Methodologically, it is an action research study, which aims to understand and modify a given situation, using participant observation as a method of data collection. It was conducted in a Nursery II class to evaluate pedagogical practices related to play. To this end, structured questionnaires, organized into thematic sections, were administered to capture the perceptions and opinions of the participating teachers. In addition, a bibliographic research was conducted, based on a qualitative approach, which involved reading, analyzing, and interpreting articles, documents, and journals. The participants in this research were six teachers who teach Nursery II classes. Theoretically, the research was based on studies by Vygotsky (1991), Piaget (1976), Kishimoto (2004), among others. After collecting and organizing the data, a table was created with the most relevant responses from the participants. The results show that play is important for the teaching-learning process, as it contributes to the development of cognitive skills and is a powerful tool for incorporating content. It is concluded that the educational practice adopted is only possible based on the educator's critical and reflective awareness of their attitudes and professional skills, which enables the construction of healthy and meaningful interpersonal relationships with students and the construction of a learning environment that stimulates curiosity and develops students' autonomy.