The play and the public policies for childhood

• Grant number: 15/20793-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research
• Start date: March 21, 2016
• End date: July 20, 2016
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Psychology
• Principal Investigator: Marie Claire Sekkel
• Grantee: Marie Claire Sekkel
• Host Investigator: Heinz Sunker
• Host Institution: Instituto de Psicologia (IP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: University of Wuppertal, Germany

Abstract

The starting point of this study is the comprehension of playing as a fundamental activity for the individual and cultural development and has, among its objectives, to think about how the conditions that allow the play might be represented in childhood public policies. The aim is to work together with an interdisciplinary research center, specialized in childhood oriented public policy, in Wuppertal, Germany. The analysis about the play are based mainly on the approaches fundamented by Donald Winnicott and Walter Benjamin whose ideas coincide in the comprehension of the play as an inseparably psychic and cultural phenomena. Starting with the discussion about childhood conceptions, intergenerational relations and child rights, the intention is to think about the conditions that allows the play, aiming to build analysis that contribute to the formulation of public policies that progress in the democratic process towards a humanized society. Together with this propositions, the aim is to think about the role of psychology inside interdisciplinary research about childhood.