OUTLINING GENDER POSITIONING IN THE CONTEXT OF EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION FROM THE PLAY WORKSHOPS

This article discusses gender positionings constructed by 4, 5 and 6 year olds children in the context of early childhood education, using a methodological strategy called "workshop". Two thematic play workshops are highlighted, in which the children were divided into two gender groups and were presented with the proposal to play family with male and female characters such as father, mother, son and daughter. This strategy was relevant to highlight and understand how boys and girls stand in a situation that demands the assumption of a social role linked to a gender opposite to the one with which they identify. It was found several strategies used by children, especially boys, not to assume the role of the opposite gender, indicating negotiations of meanings about male and female that act in the process of building their gender identities.