Analysis of the social and academic dimensions of a toy library in a higher education institution

Abstract

This study aims to understand the social and academic dimensions of a toy library maintained by a higher education institution, the Municipal College of Palhoça. This facility offers a designed and structured space for and with childhood and aims to assist trainee teachers in appropriating a teaching praxis, based on the right to childhood. It sought to understand the meanings attributed to the toy library by those responsible for the children enrolled in the project and, also, its function as a laboratory of the teacher-training course of the institution. The Municipal College of Palhoça is a public and free-of-charge institution, located in Santa Catarina, intended for regional development by reserving vacancies for residents who have graduated from public high school. It was a quality case study which applied questionnaires to those responsible for the children, with on-site visits to get to know the ambience and its functioning, followed by an analysis of institutional documents, research and reports of activities developed by the teacher-training undergraduates. The analysis showed that this project, in its social dimension, influences the continuity of studies for part of those responsible for the children, primarily for women students in the evening class, since it provides their sons and daughters with aesthetic, playful and creative objectifications, essential for human constitution. In its academic dimension, the toy library allows future teachers to recognize and respect the recreational culture and the appropriation of a teaching praxis. Thus, the project encourages student permanence, allows to appreciate recreational culture and enhances teacher training making it possible to meet social and academic demands.