Revista Portuguesa de Pedagogia

As Dinâmicas da Pré-Escola na Escola da Ponte: Educação Integral ou Tempo Integral?

Simone de Almeida Evangelista, António Gomes Ferreira

Integral Education in recent decades in Brazil has been discussed by many educators who seek educational quality; however, this discussion has mainly been grounded in Full-Time Schools and the More Education Program (CARVALHO, 2006; CAVALIERE, 2007 and 2010; GADOTTI, 2009; PARO, 2009; MENEZES, 2011; MAURÍCIO, 2012; and MOLL, 2012), with few discussions focusing on its defining concept. Therefore, this study constitutes an excerpt from a case study developed through semi-structured interviews with parents/guardians and a preschool educator from Escola da Ponte, located in Vila das Aves/São Tomé de Negrelos, in Santo Tirso, in the district of Porto, Portugal, during the 2019/2020 school year.

We proceeded with a rigorous analysis of the data, which made it possible to reach different conceptions from other voices, aiming at a socio-dynamic understanding (FERREIRA, 2004) of the educational reality in question, viewing it in its social, scientific, and ideological complexity. We seek to understand the extent to which its dynamics address an educational proposal that encompasses a process of the child’s full development in its physical, intellectual, social, moral, and emotional dimensions, beyond a Full-Time education proposal.

This study is supported through dialogue with authors such as Locke, Rousseau, Pestalozzi, and Froebel, as well as John Dewey and Célestin Freinet, who help us achieve understanding based on their ideas and experiences, since this is not an innovative concept. The final work revealed itself as a manifestation of diverse perspectives that intersect to represent the educational dynamics developed, contributing to the educational conception implemented in the preschool of that educational institution.

Formation des enseignants pour l'éducation de la petite enfance: l'éveil dans les étincelles d'espoir

Eduardo Augusto Farias, Marta Regina Furlan

Discuter de la spécificité de l'éducation de la petite enfance dans le processus pédagogique est essentiel et doit être au cœur de la formation des enseignants. Cela implique de comprendre que la formation de l'enseignant ne peut se limiter à une méthodologie centrée sur la simple transmission de contenus et de tâches d'apprentissage. Elle doit inclure une réflexion critique sur le rôle de l'éducateur, les relations avec les enfants et les pratiques pédagogiques qui favorisent le développement intégral des petits. La semi-formation des enseignants, bien qu’elle représente un défi, peut être vue comme une opportunité pour que les enseignants s'engagent dans un processus d'amélioration continue, cherchant toujours à mieux comprendre les besoins des enfants et les méthodes les plus efficaces pour y répondre. En ces temps, où les échanges dialogiques, à l'intérieur comme à l'extérieur des établissements scolaires sont rares, il est fondamental de revenir à une pédagogie compréhensive des besoins de l'enfance et qui investisse dans le développement de ses capacités. C’est dans cette optique que nous avons écrit cet article.

Mapping Selection Criteria for Picture Books in Kindergarten: Mediators and Literary Repertoires

Ana Gonçalves

The article presents a literature review devoted to the selection criteria for picturebooks in kindergarten, taking as its central axis the role of reading mediators and the responsibility they assume in choosing the books and building high-quality literary repertoires for preschool children. The analysis is structured around two main pillars: on the one hand, the national regulatory framework, in particular the Curricular Guidelines for Preschool Education (OCEPE) (Direção-Geral da Educação [DGE], 2016), which emphasise the importance of story reading, the provision of quality books and children’s participation in decisions about what is read in educational contexts; on the other hand, the National Reading Plan 2017–2027 (PNL2027), which sets as its goals the encouragement of reading habits, the strengthening of literacy competences and the guarantee of access to literature from preschool onwards. In this scenario, the picturebook plays a prominent role in daily kindergarten routines, both through teachers’ choices and through children’s own requests, which makes particularly urgent a careful selection capable of articulating aesthetic demand, pedagogical relevance and the safeguarding of the child’s best interests.

The discussion engages with contributions by Ana Margarida Ramos, Sara Reis da Silva and Teresa Colomer, among other authors, as well as with international studies on picturebooks, visual literacy and multimodal reading by researchers such as Arizpe and Styles, Nikolajeva and Scott, Nodelman, Pantaleo and Yokota and Teale. Among the works published in Portuguese, two pioneering studies in the field of selection criteria stand out: Silva and Barroso present a set of parameters for the “álbum infantil” in the Portuguese context, whereas Santos and Saito discuss the choice of literature in Brazilian early childhood education in close connection with mediators’ everyday practices. A cross-reading of these contributions, related to the OCEPE and the PNL2027, makes it possible to identify a set of recurrent dimensions in the definition of picturebook quality: suitability to the age group and to the modes of engagement of generation Alpha; literary density and narrative complexity; visual and graphic sophistication; pedagogical and inclusive potential; cultural and social relevance; originality and formal innovation; as well as the structuring role of paratextual and peritextual elements.

It is important to stress that the study emerges from a need recognised in the author’s own professional practice: her experience as an early childhood educator reveals the constant use of picturebooks in whole-class readings and in moments of autonomous choice by children, coexisting with a scarcity of systematised theoretical frameworks to guide this selection process rigorously and with a still limited offer of specific continuing education in this area. Reflecting on selection criteria for picturebooks in kindergarten therefore implies thinking about the conditions for constructing literary repertoires that respond simultaneously to the guidance of educational policy documents and to the concrete demands of practice contexts. The article thus proposes the enumeration and systematisation of selection criteria identified in the specialised literature, highlighting convergences, tensions and gaps, and advances a critical reflection on a field that remains underexplored, pointing to the need for future empirical research with children and reading mediators in kindergarten that may lead to a consolidated proposal of selection criteria.

Gamificação Gamificação no Ensino da Língua Portuguesa: Práticas Pedagógicas Ativas

Sandra Maria Marques Brás Teodósio; Ana Paula Amaral

The expository teaching method, based on conservative and outdated learning, relies on a one-way communication process, where the teacher is the expert on the syllabus content, imposing a passive attitude on students and hindering the development of critical thinking, collaboration and creativity. In this context, gamification stands out as a potentially effective pedagogical approach, aimed at improving students' academic performance, as well as promoting higher levels of motivation, interest and participation in learning activities. This study aims to implement and evaluate the effectiveness of a gamification-based intervention programme in secondary school Portuguese classes. Data collection was carried out using a Sociodemographic Questionnaire, a Diagnostic Test (before and after the intervention) and a Satisfaction Assessment Questionnaire. Forty-four students from two 10th grade classes (22 students in each) participated, divided into two groups (intervention - GI and control - GC). The IG obtained better results than the CG (after intervention) in two linguistic domains: coordinated clauses, which went from M=3.14 (SD=3.98) to M=13.77 (SD=1.51) (p=0.051) and adverbial subordinate clauses, which went from M=9.27 (SD=5.31) to M=16.64 (SD=1.53) (p=0.002). However, it is necessary to replicate this study with larger samples to consolidate the results obtained.

Environmental Racism in Brazil:

The present article addresses the concept of Environmental Racism and its relationship with current social inequalities. Coined in 1982, the term refers to the form of discrimination that exposes minority groups to environmental risks while excluding them from political decision-making processes. In Brazil, historical and social factors, such as slavery, exacerbate this exclusion, affecting Black, Indigenous, and Low-income communities. To promote critical education on the subject, the pedagogical game “Territórios em Crise” (which, from Portuguese, translates to “Territories in Crisis”) was developed. By simulating socio-environmental inequalities in a fictional city, the game educationally explores the vulnerability of marginalized communities to environmental disasters and ecological damage. Therefore, this study aimed to analyse whether the proposed pedagogical game is able to raise students’ awareness of environmental racism and its implications, fostering critical thinking, and encouraging socio-environmental discussions in the classroom. The game was implemented in a Biological Sciences course at a private Brazilian university, within the curricular component “Science, Technology, and Society in Health”. With 14 participating students, reflective discussions on the topic were conducted after the game, along with the use of rubrics that allowed students to perform a self-assessment of their performance in the activity. The results suggest a significant increase in students’ awareness of the issue and indicate that the activity motivated them to reflect on their own contexts, establishing connections between the dynamics of oppression and privilege addressed in the game and their personal experiences. Thus, the study demonstrates the effectiveness of interactive methodologies, such as the one employed, in fostering critical reflection on socio-environmental issues.