Playful, childhood and schooling: (mis)matches

Abstract

This research recognizes in the ludic a rich learning space for the child, as it mobilizes erotic and aggressive fantasies, feeding the elaboration of knowledge at the level of reason by symbolization and sublimation. In this study, the way the ludic has been considered and welcomed at the preschool in Brazil is questioned. The objective of this research is to investigate how the ludic is upheld in the pedagogical practice of the teacher who works in early childhood education centers. Interviews were conducted with three teachers working in early childhood education institutions of a city in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. The interviews were analyzed from the psychoanalytical theory. The analyses indicate that teachers essentially perceive the ludic as recreation and as an educational tool. Defined as recreation, the ludic is characterized as a hobby, an uncompromising, unproductive, worthless activity. When perceived as a resource/teaching tool for teaching certain content/knowledge (like the alphabet, for example), the ludic is rationalized. In conclusion, we can say that, although the ludic is present in school, this research shows its depreciation as an educational resource. This slight devaluation denotes the disregard of contemporary school in relation to the unconscious - the desire, the fantasy, the infantile.

Key words: Ludic. Early Childhood Education. Teacher. Psychoanalysis.