A criança pela lente da fotografia: representações e culturas no jardim de infância modelo de Natal (1953-1965)

Abstract

For a long time, the history of children and childhood was considered the history of the socially excluded subjects, causing a process of concealment, defined by Sarmento (2007) as social “invisibility” of childhood. Modernity raises the need to know the child and their needs, ensuring their social place. The present study aims to analyze the representations of children and childhood in the photographic images produced by the Jardim de Infância Modelo (Kindergarten Model of Natal), between 1953 to 1965. School photographs are the instrument of social visibility and in the text discussed. its presence in the production of the cultural identity of the Jardim de Infância Modelo in Natal. Thus, the analysis focuses on representations of children and childhood in a school context, starting from a cultural perspective. Photography is defended as a document, rich in information and that reveals multiple social and cultural meanings; and at the same time, a monument, which projects socially representative images of a conception of a child built in an educational setting and the constitution of a school children's culture. For theoretical study about Childhood, it is used: Farias, Kuhlmann, Freitas, Sarmento, Gouvea, Corsaro. As for photographic reading, we highlight: Kossoy, Dubois, Leite, Ciavatta and Mauad. In the context of the educational reality, we favor: Kramer, Kishimoto, Souza, Benconstta, Saviani. The documentary corpus consists of photographs filed at the President Kennedy Institute of Higher Education in Natal and a personal collection. Government Messages, Legislation (Laws and Decrees), Newspapers and interviews help to contextualize the time. Finally, it is clear that there is the production of a culture for childhood, based on different discourses and practices that motivate the ways of being and living childhood