Currículo em ação e a temática religiosa na educação infantil : a voz das crianças

Abstract

This study discusses the curriculum in action in the Early Childhood Education and aims at understanding how the configuration of the religion/religiousness presents itself based on the children’s demonstrations of the children. Diversity and laicity overlap in a discussion that raises questions connected to the respect for differences, which were then discussed based on the critical multiculturalism and on the inter/multicultural perspective, understanding the religion/religiousness as part of the culture and of the dialogue relevance. As part of the objectives, we intended to investigate how children express themselves on the theme in order to better understand the relations between curriculum and culture in the Early Childhood Education. The question that guided the investigation was “How do children express themselves about religion/religiousness in curriculum in action?” The research was characterized as of ethnographic type. It included observations that were done with a group of 15 children aged from 5 to 6 years old in a Municipal School of Early Childhood Education, in a classroom and in other spaces at the school, during a semester, totalizing 36 days of observations. As part of the results, we noticed that religion/religiousness is frequently present with great force in the curriculum in action because there were in 33 days of the 36 days of observations. In this context, we also pointed out the school did not know about the religion/religiousness of the children. The school understands that it is not possible to talk about this subject in the school environment and hence making other forms of religion/religiousness that are deviants of the catholic Christian monocultural standard become invisible and exoticized. On the other hand, children bring their experiences to the curriculum where we can notice demonstrations of religion/religiousness several times, contradicting the school’s prohibition of talking about this subject. An important issue considering teachers' education is the development of public politics to transform educative spaces in a place for discussions and not of proselytism. It is necessary to consider religion/religiousness is in the curriculum in action with intensity and if the theme is brought to the school, it should be part of the curriculum. Discussing the theme is part of the conflicted challenges to be faced and needs to be done from a perspective that recognizes multiculturalism in the society and that promotes intercultural dialogue, considering the importance to provide the children chances to speak out and ensure the children’s voice will be heard and the content will be incorporated in the curriculum. We suggest that children speak out and that religion/religiousness does not remain at the school gate, but that this dialogue among the differences promotes learning. This will only be possible if the voice of the children is effectively heard.