Abstract

VALENCA, Vera Lucia Chacon. Children and the city: points of view and social/cultural practices. Rev. Elet. Educ. [online]. 2018, vol.12, n.3, pp.792-810. ISSN 1982-7199.  https://doi.org/10.14244/198271992475.

This article aims to socialize the results of a qualitative research on the relations between children and the city where they live, highlighting their points of view and their participation in local cultural groups. The subjects were 07 children, aged between 08 and 12, who were interviewed in January and February 2017. Childhood was considered as a social construction, and children, as actors, living in peripheral social contexts in Recife (Brazil) and in the Historical Site of Olinda, and participants of Maracatu, Caboclinhos, Coco de Roda etc. They pointed to the lack of play spaces, the lack of basic physical infrastructure in the place where they live, as well as urban violence. Their participation in cultural groups has varied in levels of engagement, being deeper in the “root” groups, in which they receive religious initiation, including “shaving their hair”, and pay homage to the eguns, spirit of the dead of people who belonged to the Terreiros. They learn to manage groups as family “business”, to dance, sing, use percussion instruments and make various crafts. In the workshops they establish intergenerational relationships, and with children living in other neighborhoods too. The cultural groups work together to build personal identities and reinforce the sense of belonging/social identities.

Keywords : Children and cities; Learning; Social/cultural practices.

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