Bolivian children in early childhood education in São Paulo: adaptation, vulnerabilities and tensions

Abstract

This article analyzes tense and contradictory aspects witnessed in a study of the adaptation of Bolivian children to early childhood education in public schools in Sao Paulo city. Analysis focuses on the complexity that permeates the relationship of these children with their teachers. Interactions between Bolivian children and other children were observed. Observation lasted two years and the information collected was recorded in a field diary. The ethnographic fieldwork was complemented by open interviews. The observation allowed understanding the meaning of being a foreigner in early childhood education in Sao Paulo city and the construction of stigmas associated with the production of difference as a disadvantage for the newly arrived children.