Teaching focused on narrative play: inspirations from Vivian Paley

Abstract

This article discusses the book The Boy Who Would Be a Helicopter (1991), by the American author Vivian Gussin Paley, which focuses on the importance of stories, imagination and make-believe play in the lives of children, especially in the context of early childhood education. The main purpose of the article is to suggest contributions to the work of teachers of kindergarten or the early years of elementary school, as well as methodological inspirations for working with children in general. Since Paley's book, although much celebrated in other contexts, is not well known in Brazil, the article seeks to bring it closer to the pedagogical discussion in our country, establishing a dialogue between its main ideas and those of some Brazilian authors who share similar concerns, like Freire, Kishimoto and Warschauer. A content analysis was also carried out, based on two categories: "observation and records" and "narrative play". Portuguese translations of the original work in English are included, which were produced in the context of the graduate research upon which the article is based. As a conclusion, inspired by Vivian Paley's work, the study highlights ways in which the creation of stories and make-believe play can provide meaningful learning for children and for adults who work with them or who study childhood.