Alimentação no cotidiano pedagógico da educação infantil: narrativas da relação criança-comida-adulto

Abstract

This research investigated the narratives of food within the pedagogical day to day life of Early Childhood Education, focusing on the triadic relationship between child–food–adult, whose central question was “what narratives emerge from the child–food–adult relationship in the everyday life of Early Childhood Education?”. It was grounded on the theoretical assumption that food is a complex human experience, filled with meanings and social and cultural symbols, and permeated by relationships and rituals. In this sense, food is a narrative that tells the story of a person and their community. Furthermore, it was understood that, within the school context, food should be contemplated in its pedagogical dimension, being considered a potential experience for learning, development, and interaction among children, as well as between children, adults, and the surrounding context. Through an instrumental case study, the educational journey of Age Group 3 was examined, a class from the Municipal School of Early Childhood Education Negrinho do Pastoreio, part of the Municipal Education Network of Novo Hamburgo, in which the researcher was the acting teacher. Based on participant observation, a virtual field diary, and the class’s documentary process, the children’s narratives related to food practices experienced at school were identified. Through a gradual process of analysis, three analytical categories were constructed, leading to three overarching findings: (i) food rituals are mechanisms that may sustain children’s agency and participation in their learning experiences at school; (ii) based on the conception of listening to children, it is the teacher’s role to construct a quality food context for children, intentionally incorporating moments of food into pedagogical planning and reflection within the children’s educational journey; (iii) food is a link between the child’s inner world and the culture to which they belong, and it is the school’s responsibility to create opportunities for children to experience moments of food that, through food and food rituals, contribute to the construction of subjectivity and to their sense of belonging to their community.