Do substituir e compensar para o educar e cuidar: a convergência da história, da pesquisa e da legislação da Educação Infantil

The 1990s was a milestone for the field of child education. The recently enacted Federal Constitution of 1988 defined nursery and pre-school as child’s right to education; the Statute of Children and Adolescents, in parallel with the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1990, reiterated the child as a subject of rights; the Law of Directives and Bases of National Education of 1996 included early childhood education in the national education system. Research on early childhood and teaching experience with children, at an international and national level, broadened the possibilities of developing a pedagogy for early childhood (ROCHA, 1999, 2001), based on knowledge that was produced at the time. A new paradigm of childhood (JAMES, PROUT, 1997; QVOR- TRUP, 1991, 1993, MONTANDON, 2001), supported by sociology, made us question the principles of developmental psychology, the canon of work with young children until then. The movement toward early childhood, resulting from the action of different social groups, favored a closer look at early childhood education, exposing its different aspects – from initial teacher education to facilities and time spent at school; from demand to financing; from replacing and compensating to educating and nurturing. This article seeks to locate this visibility of early childhood in early childhood education institutions by presenting a brief history of nursery schools, kindergartens and playgrounds, to then consider aspects of research on young children, and then analyze the relevant legislation. Finally, it deals with the contradictions present in the convergence of three dimensions: history, research and legislation. A década de 1990 constituiu um marco histórico para a área da educação infantil. A recém-promulgada Constituição Federal de 1988 definia creche e pré-escola como direito da criança à educação; o Estatuto da Criança e do Adolescente, em paralelo à Convenção dos Direitos da Criança, em 1990, reiterava a criança como sujeito de direitos; a Lei de Diretrizes e Bases da Educação Nacional, de 1996, incluía a educação infantil no sistema nacional de educação. Pesquisas sobre a infância e experiências pedagógicas com crianças, em nível internacional e nacional, ampliavam as possibilidades da elaboração de uma pedagogia da educação infantil (ROCHA, 1999, 2001) fundamentada no conhecimento que se produzia. Um novo paradigma da infância (JAMES; PROUT, 1997; QVORTRUP, 1991, 1993; MONTANDON, 2001), sustentado pela sociologi