Percepção docente acerca das práticas de leitura literária na educação infantil

Abstract

This research argues that literary reading stimulates the formation of critical and reflective individuals in society. Although they encounter many texts in circulation, the formation of the reader depends on actions of interaction with the text, designed based on differentiated mediations and interventions, according to the child's reality. Therefore, working with literary reading proves to be a powerful proposal for learning to read and for the holistic development/growth. In this context, the literary training of teachers to work with children's literature is a key factor in awakening and encouraging curiosity, imagination, narrativity and an awareness of literary form (literariness) in early childhood education. This raises the following questions: How do teachers perceive and understand literary reading activities and act as mediators in this process, enabling the development of young readers? What literary reading activities are developed by teachers in early childhood education and how are they developed? Linked to the studies of NELLE (Center for Studies in Languages, Reading, and Writing), this research aims to investigate how teachers understand the literary reading practices developed in early childhood education, specifically in preschool, and what knowledges underpin their literary training. The specific objectives were to: a) identify and map literary reading practices developed in preschool; b) identify guidelines in official documents on working with literary reading, storytelling, listening, and circle time; c) identify perceptions and understandings about the knowledge that teachers have about literary reading proposals in Early Childhood Education; d) to develop a literary workshop for Early Childhood Education teachers. As a theoretical basis, we rely on the discussion on reading presented in Cecília Bajour (2012) and Maria Helena Martins (1982). With regard to literary reading, we rely on Patricia Corsino et al. (2010, 2016) and Ilsa Goulart (2015, 2018, 2023); and on literary literacy, we rely on Rildo Cosson (2022) and Rildo Cosson and Renata Souza (2011). Methodologically, we conducted qualitative, exploratory field research based on semi-structured interviews with preschool teachers and observation of literary reading sessions in a second-year preschool classroom in a municipality in southwestern Minas Gerais. The collected data were analyzed according to Bardin's Content Analysis (1977), through pre-analysis, exploration of the material, treatment of results, inference, and interpretation. The results on teacher perception point to three axes/themes of reflection: (a) Teacher literary training, identified as weak or hidden; (b) literary reading practices, carried out in the classroom by the teacher and in the library by the professional responsible; and (c) teacher perception of practices, which, although they emphasize the importance of working with literary reading, are not evidenced in practice, due to lack of time or guidance on conducting literary mediation. In light of these findings, the study's practical outcome is a formative workshop designed to bridge theoretical frameworks of literary reading with pedagogical mediation practices for early childhood teachers.