Procuramos fundamentar e explicitar neste trabalho o modo pelo qual o sujeito organiza, pessoal, coletiva e historicamente seu conhecimento astronômico. Toma-se como referencial teórico para essa organização a epistemologia genética de Jean Piaget, em particular sua teoria da abstração reflexionante. Apontam-se, na revisão bibliográfica, aspectos que se consideram relevantes para o conhecimento astronômico, tanto do ponto de vista teórico quanto histórico, seguindo uma direção que estrutura a gênese desse conhecimento específico, desde as estruturas sensório-motoras do sujeito, passando pelo pensamento pré-operatório, o pensamento operatório concreto e o pensamento operatório formal. O caminho seguido, uma vez que não podemos abranger o trabalho de Piaget na sua totalidade, foi o de fundamentar a aquisição do conhecimento no equilíbrio cognitivo, conseguido através de abstrações empíricas e reflexionantes, tendo como modelo, principalmente, o equilíbrio dos sistemas biológicos. Isso é, pretendemos mostrar como o conhecimento astronômico, iniciando pela percepção do céu, mediado pelo processo de equilibração e de abstração reflexionante, evolui por sucessivas tomadas de consciência dos fenômenos celestes e, ao mesmo tempo, das compreensões do próprio sujeito. Apontam-se, finalmente, algumas sugestões pedagógicas para que os fenômenos dos céus, inferenciais na sua totalidade, possam ser compreendidos em diferentes níveis de suas possíveis leituras. / This work has the objective of fundament and explicit in what ways one organizes, personal, collective and historically, its own astronomic knowledge. Jean Piaget’s genetics epistemology is taken as the referential theory, and the reflexionant abstraction theory taken as the central point. Through a checking on the bibliography, different aspects considered relevant for the astronomic knowledge are pointed out, in theory as in history, following a direction that structures the genesis of this specific knowledge, since one’s sensory-motor structures, going through the pre-operational thinking, the concrete operational thinking and the formal operational thinking. The way through which it was done, since we cannot go thorough the complete work of Piaget, fundaments the acquisition of knowledge on the cognitive equilibrium, acquired through empiric and reflexionant abstractions, having as a model, mainly, the biological systems equilibrium. In another way, with the astronomic knowledge, taken from the skies’ perception, mediated by the equilibrium theory and the reflecting abstraction theory, leads to the perception and understanding of the celestial phenomenon. By the end, the conclusions also point out suggestions in a pedagogical level so that the skies phenomenon, inferential in their totality, can be fully comprehended in all different ways of possible reading.

Procuramos fundamentar e explicitar neste trabalho o modo pelo qual o sujeito organiza, pessoal, coletiva e historicamente seu conhecimento astronômico. Toma-se como referencial teórico para essa organização a epistemologia genética de Jean Piaget, em particular sua teoria da abstração reflexionante. Apontam-se, na revisão bibliográfica, aspectos que se consideram relevantes para o conhecimento astronômico, tanto do ponto de vista teórico quanto histórico, seguindo uma direção que estrutura a gênese desse conhecimento específico, desde as estruturas sensório-motoras do sujeito, passando pelo pensamento pré-operatório, o pensamento operatório concreto e o pensamento operatório formal. O caminho seguido, uma vez que não podemos abranger o trabalho de Piaget na sua totalidade, foi o de fundamentar a aquisição do conhecimento no equilíbrio cognitivo, conseguido através de abstrações empíricas e reflexionantes, tendo como modelo, principalmente, o equilíbrio dos sistemas biológicos. Isso é, pretendemos mostrar como o conhecimento astronômico, iniciando pela percepção do céu, mediado pelo processo de equilibração e de abstração reflexionante, evolui por sucessivas tomadas de consciência dos fenômenos celestes e, ao mesmo tempo, das compreensões do próprio sujeito. Apontam-se, finalmente, algumas sugestões pedagógicas para que os fenômenos dos céus, inferenciais na sua totalidade, possam ser compreendidos em diferentes níveis de suas possíveis leituras. / This work has the objective of fundament and explicit in what ways one organizes, personal, collective and historically, its own astronomic knowledge. Jean Piaget’s genetics epistemology is taken as the referential theory, and the reflexionant abstraction theory taken as the central point. Through a checking on the bibliography, different aspects considered relevant for the astronomic knowledge are pointed out, in theory as in history, following a direction that structures the genesis of this specific knowledge, since one’s sensory-motor structures, going through the pre-operational thinking, the concrete operational thinking and the formal operational thinking. The way through which it was done, since we cannot go thorough the complete work of Piaget, fundaments the acquisition of knowledge on the cognitive equilibrium, acquired through empiric and reflexionant abstractions, having as a model, mainly, the biological systems equilibrium. In another way, with the astronomic knowledge, taken from the skies’ perception, mediated by the equilibrium theory and the reflecting abstraction theory, leads to the perception and understanding of the celestial phenomenon. By the end, the conclusions also point out suggestions in a pedagogical level so that the skies phenomenon, inferential in their totality, can be fully comprehended in all different ways of possible reading.

Procuramos fundamentar e explicitar neste trabalho o modo pelo qual o sujeito organiza, pessoal, coletiva e historicamente seu conhecimento astronômico. Toma-se como referencial teórico para essa organização a epistemologia genética de Jean Piaget, em particular sua teoria da abstração reflexionante. Apontam-se, na revisão bibliográfica, aspectos que se consideram relevantes para o conhecimento astronômico, tanto do ponto de vista teórico quanto histórico, seguindo uma direção que estrutura a gênese desse conhecimento específico, desde as estruturas sensório-motoras do sujeito, passando pelo pensamento pré-operatório, o pensamento operatório concreto e o pensamento operatório formal. O caminho seguido, uma vez que não podemos abranger o trabalho de Piaget na sua totalidade, foi o de fundamentar a aquisição do conhecimento no equilíbrio cognitivo, conseguido através de abstrações empíricas e reflexionantes, tendo como modelo, principalmente, o equilíbrio dos sistemas biológicos. Isso é, pretendemos mostrar como o conhecimento astronômico, iniciando pela percepção do céu, mediado pelo processo de equilibração e de abstração reflexionante, evolui por sucessivas tomadas de consciência dos fenômenos celestes e, ao mesmo tempo, das compreensões do próprio sujeito. Apontam-se, finalmente, algumas sugestões pedagógicas para que os fenômenos dos céus, inferenciais na sua totalidade, possam ser compreendidos em diferentes níveis de suas possíveis leituras. / This work has the objective of fundament and explicit in what ways one organizes, personal, collective and historically, its own astronomic knowledge. Jean Piaget’s genetics epistemology is taken as the referential theory, and the reflexionant abstraction theory taken as the central point. Through a checking on the bibliography, different aspects considered relevant for the astronomic knowledge are pointed out, in theory as in history, following a direction that structures the genesis of this specific knowledge, since one’s sensory-motor structures, going through the pre-operational thinking, the concrete operational thinking and the formal operational thinking. The way through which it was done, since we cannot go thorough the complete work of Piaget, fundaments the acquisition of knowledge on the cognitive equilibrium, acquired through empiric and reflexionant abstractions, having as a model, mainly, the biological systems equilibrium. In another way, with the astronomic knowledge, taken from the skies’ perception, mediated by the equilibrium theory and the reflecting abstraction theory, leads to the perception and understanding of the celestial phenomenon. By the end, the conclusions also point out suggestions in a pedagogical level so that the skies phenomenon, inferential in their totality, can be fully comprehended in all different ways of possible reading.

Magister Educationis - MEd / This thesis is a record and analysis of as well as a commentary on an emancipatory.educational action research project in which I participated at three educare centres serving 0 - 6 year old children in Nyanga, Philippi and Old Crossroads of Cape Town, South Africa. The study sprang from my need to examine closely the work I was doing as a volunteer in the hope of maximizing my efforts to bring about sustainable change in these challenging settings. . Ultimately my goal was safe, healthy and stimulating educare. I chose what I perceived to be a few important areas for improvement which reflected both the teachers' prior educare training as offered in several non-governmental organizations in Cape Town as well as ideas which I contributed from my own readings and studies. Room arrangement to ease flow and promote independent, individual learning was one area. Establishing routines in a daily programme that encouraged children to become interested and responsible members of the educare community, that fairly divided teacher tasks and that increased child/teacher interactions was another area for improvement. The thesis includes a discussion in Chapter 3 of emancipatory educational action research as a good vehicle for the work I undertook with all the teachers in each of the three centres. Central to this choice was my participation in change including change within myself as a volunteer in-service field worker. Flexibility in timing, including delays and many repetitions, were a feature of my work with women whose lives of grinding poverty were at the mercy of tragedy and disaster as well as time-consuming tasks making for absenteeism. The main benefit of this form of research was its potential for growth in self-esteem and empowerment in individual teachers as they witnessed the benefits of their planned work multiply at the centres. I divided the work at each centre into three phases. The first included getting to know the centre, its teachers and children and making decisions around what tasks to undertake. In the same phase the teachers and I began to work on the identified areas. In the second phase, I introduced the teachers to teachers at other successful educare centres so that linkages could be established that would strengthen the work we were doing and broaden their base of support. Ultimately, I intended that this would allow me to decrease my presence and input gradually while change continued at the three centres. The third phase involved the teachers at a centre plowing back their new skills into the wider network of Mustadafin Foundation educare centres in which they were involved and which needed similar assistance. I have presented a new understanding for sustainable change resulting from this study and it is my hope that donors and others involved in community upliftment will understand that continued input and follow-up involvement need to accompany material gifts and intensive upgrading. Finally, I have written what I hope is a very readable thesis so that the teachers involved can read their own and each others' stories as I have done my best to record and interpret them.