Fundamentos e contradições na proposta pedagógica da educação infantil de Palmas-TO: em busca da intencionalidade pedagógica e da formação omnilateral

Abstract

This dissertation, presented to the Professional Graduate Program in Education at UFT, within the research line Specific Curricula for Stages and Modalities of Education, analyzes the current pedagogical proposal for Early Childhood Education in the municipality of Palmas, Tocantins, in light of Historical-Critical Pedagogy (HCP) and Cultural-Historical Theory (CHT). It is based on the understanding that Early Childhood Education, the first stage of Basic Education, is a field marked by disputes between hegemonic conceptions linked to the pedagogy of “learning to learn” and critical perspectives committed to the omnilateral formation of workingclass children. Guided by the method of Historical-Dialectical Materialism, the research adopts a qualitative approach of a bibliographic and documentary nature. The investigation is structured around the following research question: to what extent does the pedagogical proposal for Early Childhood Education in Palmas express constructivist and neo–New School conceptions, and how do these conceptions distance themselves from—or approximate—the principles of HCP and CHT? In this sense, the general objective is to analyze the pedagogical proposal for Early Childhood Education in Palmas, identifying its theoretical foundations, contradictions, and implications for the organization of educational work, while proposing, as the product of the professional master’s program, a Permanent Study Group that contributes to the theoretical training of professionals in the municipal education network. Official municipal documents (the pedagogical proposal and curriculum guidelines) and national legislation related to Early Childhood Education were analyzed, in dialogue with academic productions that discuss this stage and curriculum from the perspective of HCP and CHT. The analysis shows that the municipal proposal is predominantly grounded in constructivist and neo–New School conceptions, emphasizing spontaneity and immediate experience, with little explicit attention to systematized teaching and to the intentional mediation of the teacher in children’s access to scientific, artistic, and philosophical knowledge.