Visions of science and scientist in children's literature: an analysis of the collection "Piririca da Serra" by Eva Furnari

• Grant number: 17/06156-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: July 01, 2017
• End date: December 31, 2017
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Education - Specific topics in Education
• Principal Investigator: Luciana Massi
• Grantee: Pâmela Wanderley Santos Jaskot
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências e Letras (FCL). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Araraquara. Araraquara , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Teaching the content and epistemology of science during the first years of schooling is a major challenge for teachers and students. Although several science epistemologists have enabled the questioning of positivist ideals of science, research reveals that distorted visions of science, the scientist, and his/her work persist. Aiming to broaden cultural repertoire and the learning of sciences, some authors have proposed the articulation of literature and science. In the first years of a child's education, this literary fusion emerges as a motivating alternative that favors the overall development of the student. However, there are few works focused on the analysis of the visions of science and scientists present in children's literature that orient teaching propositions. Thus, this project aims to analyze the conceptions of science and scientist present in the texts and images of four works from the collection "Piririca da Serra", by the widely known and awarded author and illustrator Eva Furnari. The theoretical reference of analysis will be the deformed visions of scientist and science and the essential characteristics of science indicated by authors like Norman Lederman and Daniel Gil Perez. The analysis of images and their relationships with the text will be complemented with specific references. It is believed that this research can contribute to the understanding of the vision of science contained in children's literature, which has a considerable scope in this demographic, and can also guide their use critically by teachers of early childhood education. (AU)