A infância e a atuação das crianças na sociedade nem sempre foram objeto de interesse por parte dos pesquisadores dos campos da sociologia e da educação, mas os processos de socialização foram estudados com afinco. Esta tese não trata dos modos de socializar as crianças, mas da forma como elas socializam-se e interagem nos seus espaços sociais. O objetivo principal é compreender como, em um determinado grupo de crianças, suas ações estiveram articuladas às instâncias da mídia, da escola e da família com o intuito de explicitar, através da prática, a necessidade de um diálogo pertinente entre as teorias de socialização e as teorias da sociologia da infância. Assim sendo, esta pesquisa está fundamentada em quatro pilares: a estrutura institucional, a agência das crianças, a história da infância e das crianças e os sentidos produzidos por elas na atualidade. A estrutura das instituições família, escola e mídia representa um elemento central para a análise das ações infantis, pois as crianças nascem em um contexto histórico-cultural e precisam aprender a se orientar e a entender as regras e os valores construídos pela sociedade. As crianças, na interação com seus pares e demais indivíduos, atuam e manifestam-se; provocam, de algum modo, modificações na estrutura institucional. Assim, as interações ocorridas entre elas produzem outros sentidos e valores. É, portanto, a análise desses sentidos infantis que oferece a possibilidade de conhecer as conexões indissociáveis e intensas que existem entre as teorias dos processos de socialização e as teorias da sociologia da infância, visto que não há socialização sem participação e atuação, assim como não há regras e normas que não produzam ações. / Despite the fact that processes of socialization were always insistently considered as the subject of educational and sociological fields of study, childhood and the acting of children in society not always have been the subjects of researchers. The present dissertation does not deal with the modes by which children are socialized, instead it deals with the ways children socialize themselves and interact in their social spaces. The main goal is to understand how, in a determinate group of children, their actions were articulated with media, school, and family instances with the aim of making explicit, through practice, the need of a pertinent dialogue between socialization theories and the theories of the sociology of childhood. In this case, the present research is based in four pillars: the institutional structure, the childrens agency, the history of childhood and children, and the meanings generated by them in the present. The structure of institutions family, school, and media represents a central element for the analysis of childrens agency, for the children are born in a cultural-historical milieu and they need to learn how to guide themselves and how to understand the rules and the values constructed by the society. The children, in their interaction with their peers and other individuals, act and manifest themselves; they somehow cause modifications in the institutional structures. Then, the interactions occurred between them produce other meanings and values. It is, therefore, the analysis of these infantile meanings that can offer the possibility for us to know the inseparable and intense connections that exist between the theories of processes of socialization and the theories of the sociology of childhood, for there are no socialization without participation and acting, as well as there are no rules or norms that cannot produce actions.

Uma experiência enquanto professora com um aluno que brincava com bonecas, maquiagem e saias, foi a primeira oportunidade que tive de refletir sobre as questões de gênero na escola e foi a motivação para iniciar os estudos de gênero que redundaram nesta dissertação. A pesquisa foi realizada numa escola municipal de educação infantil em São Bernardo do Campo (SP), a mesma em que atuo como coordenadora pedagógica. Numa abordagem qualitativa, realizei observações dos momentos de brincadeira na escola para compreender, a partir da ótica das crianças, como elas vivenciam as relações de gênero. Esta pesquisa se vincula à área de estudos de gênero e para perceber a criança como protagonista da ação houve aproximação teórica com os autores da área da Sociologia da Infância Os resultados mostraram que os meninos e as meninas participantes desta pesquisa transitavam pelas brincadeiras, em alguns momentos com polarização das expetativas de gênero muito clara (brincadeiras de menino versus brincadeira de menina) e em outros com fronteiras que não se fixavam (como no caso das brincadeiras de super-heróis e salão de beleza). Enquanto em algumas situações era clara a ruptura das expectativas sociais de gênero nas brincadeiras entre as crianças, em outras essas rupturas eram tão sutis que poderiam passar desapercebidas. Conclui-se então que as crianças, nas situações de brincadeira, não só reproduzem, mas também rompem e ressignificam os padrões de gênero esperados e que essa dinâmica contraditória pode ser utilizada pelos/as educadores/as para ampliar os repertórios disponíveis tanto para meninos quanto para meninas. / Working as a teacher, I observed a boy student who played with dolls, makeup and skirts. That was the first opportunity I had to reflect on gender issues at school. Moreover, it was the motivation to start gender studies that resulted in this work. The assessment was conducted in Sao Bernardo do Campo (SP), in a municipal school of early childhood education where I work as educational coordinator. Using the qualitative approach, I realized observations of the recreational moments at the school to understand, from the perspective of children, how they experience gender relations. This research is bounded with the area of gender studies and, as to perceive children as the protagonists of the action, there was theoretical closeness to the authors of the area of Childhood Sociology. The results showed that boys and girls, who participated in this research, were transiting the games. In some moments the polarization of gender expectations was very clear (Boy games vs. Girl games) and at other times the boundaries were not fixed (as in the case of superheroes and beauty salon games). While in some instances the rupture of the social expectations of gender in play among children was very clear, in other circumstances these splits were so subtle that might otherwise go unnoticed. It was concluded that children, when playing, do not only reproduce, but also break and resignify the expected gender patterns. Therefore, this contradictory dynamic can be used by educators to enlarge the available repertory for both boys and girls.

Florida’s Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten program (VPK) aims to ensure that all 4-year-olds are prepared to excel in K-12 mathematics. Early numeracy/spatial skills are predictive of success in K–12 mathematics. No research has examined whether VPK classrooms are equipped with the materials necessary to teach numeracy/spatial skill. The Pre-Kindergarten Numeracy and Spatial Environment Survey was created to examine the frequency of access to and use of numeracy/spatial materials in VPK classrooms. The 69-item survey was completed by the lead educator from a sample of 62 pre-kindergarten classrooms in Miami-Dade County. Regression analysis results suggest the location of the pre-kindergarten center, the sex distribution of the children in the classrooms or the number of years of experience that the educator has as a lead teacher along with the extra training courses undertaken by the teachers does not affect the access to or the use of, numeracy and spatial materials in the classrooms.

The Salamanca Statement (UNESCO, 1994) called upon all governments to implement inclusive education, ensuring that all learners with barriers to learning are included in the educational system. South Africa as a cosignatory to this global call responded with the implementation of the South African Education White Paper 6 (Department of Education, 2001) where the principles and foundations towards inclusive education were stipulated. It was expected of teachers to be able to accommodate learners with barriers to learning in their classrooms (Dednam, 2009, p. 371), although Ntombela and Green (2013, p. 2) state that teachers are not equipped to work with learners with specific disabilities. Learners present with various barriers to learning and these barriers pose problems and challenges in the classroom. One of these problems in the classroom is learners presenting with Auditory Processing Disorder. This qualitative study employed phenomenology as the research design. Through the use of memory work, drawings and focus group discussions as data production tools, the five Foundation Phase teachers’ experiences regarding learners presenting with Auditory Processing Disorder in the inclusive classroom, were explored. Bronfenbrenner’s ecological model was used to make meaning of the findings of the study. The findings of the study indicate that teachers are torn between the expectations of global and national policies regarding inclusive education and the management and support of learners presenting with Auditory Processing Disorder in their classrooms. Various challenges and problems arise with the inclusion of learners presenting with Auditory Processing Disorder in the classroom. The findings of the study were used to formulate guidelines to support Foundation Phase teachers working with learners presenting with auditory processing problems as well as policy suggestions for the Department of Basic Education. The Department of Basic Education should revise the implementation of CAPS to include the necessary adaptations for learners presenting with Auditory Processing Disorder; and also provide teacher assistants in Foundation Phase classrooms to enable the full inclusion of all learners.

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