Childhood(s) in Ceilândia-DF: what children say about their interests and spaces
Childhoods; Children; Ceilândia, Federal District; Children’s participation; Methodological triangulation.
This research is part of the field of studies on childhood(s), in the line of research of Comparative Studies in Education, of the Postgraduate Program of the Faculty of Education of the University of Brasília (UnB). The investigation aims to describe and analyze what a group of children living in Ceilândia - Federal District, say about their childhood experience(s), highlighting their interests and desires and the relationships they establish with the space where they live. For this purpose, this thesis is based on the theoretical-methodological contributions of the field of childhood studies, dialoguing with the Sociology of Childhood and, interdisciplinary , with the Geography of Childhood. It isa research with children that highlights the relevance of listening to what these social actors have to say about their childhood experiences in the researched context. The investigation was carried out in the residential space of the participating children with the purpose of dialoguing and listening to them in an environment different from the school environment and as a way of detaching them from the role of student. To facilitate and expand understanding of what they had to say, drawings, photographs and conversations with the children about their productions were used as methodological strategies for establishing a respectful dialogue that valued their different languages. Thus, the option for methodological triangulation aimed to combine these different methodological tools, in order to generate data and promote an analysis that honored the expression of the knowledge and perspectives of the research participants. The children demonstrated interest and desire to increase the length of stay and access to institutional and/or public spaces that allow interaction and play with their peers. The participants recognized and considered some factors that limit and restrict their free access to public spaces in the sector where they live. Furthermore, they provide clear and objective assessments of the conditions and organization of public spaces in the place where they live, highlighting the existence of few spaces that children can visit safely and freely. The research makes clear the potential of children’s speeches, which reveal their readings of the world.