Avaliação da aprendizagem na educação infantil: o que os currículos escolares revelam?

Abstract

Early Childhood Education is the first stage of basic education and plays a fundamental role in human development since the first years of life are a period of significant developmental changes. Therefore, it is essential to consider educational practices that contribute to the development of children from birth to the age of five. This research therefore focused on analyzing and understanding the learning assessment process in early childhood education, and its relationship with pedagogical work and child development. The research specifically considered children aged zero to three years, considering the fundamentals of historical- cultural theory, and viewing assessment as part of teaching organization. There has been an increasing amount of discussion about the function and purposes of assessment in Early Childhood Education, with visible ambiguities, and little research has discussed it in a pedagogical dimension, especially for children aged zero to three years. This qualitative research is linked to the Culture, Educational Processes and Teacher Training research line of the Graduate Program in Education at the State University of Western Paraná (Unioeste), as well as to the Teaching, Learning and Historical-Cultural Theory Study and Research Group (GEPEATH). It used bibliographic surveys and document analysis with primary and secondary sources, such as national legislation and three school curricula from municipal education networks in Cascavel (PR), Bauru (SP) and Cambé (PR). Firstly, the study sought to present the historical and legal dimensions of early childhood education in Brazil, identifying how understanding of assessment was constructed and disseminated through legal instruments. This enabled the relationship between assessment in early childhood education as a pedagogical resource and early childhood education policy in terms of provision conditions to be understood. To this end, Historical-Cultural Theory was employed to identify indicators of human development in the early years of life that could inform the development of assessment parameters in Early Childhood Education. It was concluded that there are general patterns of human development that can be observed uniquely in everyone. Three pedagogical proposals were analyzed to gain insight into the reality of Early Childhood Education. It was found that there was little discussion regarding the assessment of children in their first stage of Early Childhood Education, even though the proposals on assessment in general were relevant. Finally, possible assessment tools to be considered in the organization of pedagogical work were reflected upon, which could contribute qualitatively to the learning and development of children