Relações dialógicas estabelecidas por crianças na Educação Infantil na resolução de situações-problema abertas de estruturas aditivas e multiplicativas

Abstract

Early Childhood Education constitutes the first stage of Basic Education and serves as the foundation for subsequent stages of schooling. It encompasses the earliest phases of life – early childhood and childhood – which are crucial periods for a child's cognitive, social, and emotional development. From a very early age, children engage with scientific knowledge, such as mathematics, through playful experiences and interactions. This study is grounded in the theory of Dialogic Learning, which advocates the creation of dialogic and inclusive environments to foster holistic development. It is guided by the following research question: "What notions of additive and multiplicative structures are mobilized through the dialogic relationships established while children in the 'Infantil V' group (the final year of Early Childhood Education) solve open-ended problem situations?". The general objective is to analyze how the dialogic relationships established among children in the 'Infantil V' class during the resolution of open-ended problem situations influence their understanding of additive and multiplicative structures. This qualitative field study was conducted at a municipal school in western Paraná. Data collection involved video and audio recordings and written records obtained using the observation protocol in Appendix D. Data analysis was performed using content analysis – specifically thematic analysis, as proposed by Minayo (2007)—and was informed by Díez-Palomar’s (2017) classification, which distinguishes between "dialogic conversations" and "non-dialogic conversations". The study found that dialogic interactions were crucial for solving the open-ended problem situations and showed that the children engaged in dialogic conversations, using valid arguments to justify their answers and strategies; however, non-dialogic interactions – characterized by attempts to impose ideas – also occurred. In other words, the dynamics established within the interactive groups proved conducive both to the sharing of ideas, hypotheses, imaginative concepts, and strategies among peers and to the emergence of potential power imbalances that could lead to the imposition of ideas. In this regard, mediation proved essential to ensuring egalitarian dialogue among participants. The study concluded that implementing open-ended problem situations through a playful, contextualized approach fostered the children's use of additive and multiplicative structures. The findings aim to provide theoretical and methodological insights to enhance pedagogical practices in Early Childhood Education, prioritizing dialogue, interaction, and the construction of mathematical concepts.