Educação Física na Educação Infantil: análise dos saberes e fazeres docentes no Campo de Experiências "Corpo, Gestos e Movimentos".

Abstract

Physical Education plays a crucial role in the integral development of children in Early Childhood Education by combining movement and bodily expression as pedagogical tools. This curricular component not only fosters motor skills but also promotes cognitive, emotional, and social development, encouraging autonomy, creativity, and interaction from the earliest years of life. Therefore, Physical Education teachers play an essential role in planning activities that integrate motor, cognitive, social, and emotional aspects. Their practices should be playful, inclusive, and safe, promoting bodily exploration, collective interaction, and children’s well-being. Furthermore, movement needs to be understood and used as a language of learning, encouraging healthy habits and positive interpersonal relationships. Thus, the main objective of this study was to analyze the didactic-pedagogical possibilities of the Field of Experience “Body, Gestures, and Movements,” proposed by the Brazilian National Common Curricular Base (BNCC), from the perspective of Physical Education teachers working in Early Childhood Education. A qualitative and exploratory research design was adopted. Thirty-one Physical Education teachers from municipal Early Childhood Education institutions in Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, participated in the study. Data were collected through questionnaires administered via Google Forms, ensuring the confidentiality of the responses, and analyzed based on the principles of content analysis. Finally, a booklet containing suggestions of activities for the Field of Experience “Body, Gestures, and Movements” in Early Childhood Education, as well as a Mini Pedagogical Workshop, was developed. This booklet constitutes the educational product resulting from this master’s dissertation. The results indicated that understandings of the body and movement are organized in a heterogeneous manner, shaped by different educational backgrounds, accumulated professional experiences, and concrete working conditions. It is concluded that, although the Field of Experience is recognized as a curricular reference, the theoretical and pedagogical foundations that support it are not always fully made explicit in teaching practices.