Unequal affections: social markers and affection in early Childhood Education

Abstract

This work addresses affectivity as one of the components of teaching-learning relationships in Early Childhood Education. More specifically, it discusses the repercussions of different social markers (gender, race/color, and the presence of disabilities or neurodevelopmental disorders) on expressions of affection towards children in the initial stage of basic education. Drawing on the theoretical contributions of Henri Wallon regarding affectivity as a form of interaction with the environment, as well as social childhood studies, the aim was to ascertain whether certain children, based on their characteristics, were more likely to be the target of affectionate demonstrations by teachers and other adults present in the classroom, while others, also due to their specificities, tended to be treated with indifference and lack of affection. An ethnographic type of observation was conducted in Early Childhood Education institutions in a municipality in the metropolitan region of Belo Horizonte (Minas Gerais/Brazil). An association was identified between the children's profiles and the greater or lesser presence of verbal and non-verbal expressions of affection, as well as the persistence of different forms of discrimination and physical and symbolic violence towards the children.