<b>The journal ‘Children’ and its section ‘letter to the teacher’: convergences between dialogue and discarded practices (1996-2002)

Abstract

The magazine ‘Children’, published for the teacher of early childhood education, has been selected as theme, source and object for history writing since it is a sample that pervades the institutionalization of education in early childhood in Brazil. The aim of current paper is the interpretation of the section titled ‘Letters to the Teacher’, used primarily to advertise each editions and to inform on activities and themes related to education in early childhood. Two main categories are proposed, or rather, the teacher in the education of early childhood as a participant in the drafting of the magazine and ‘Children’ as a tool for the guidance of practices that may be developed by teachers. The issues between numbers 29 (BRASIL, [ca.1996]) and 37 (BRASIL, 2002b), within the two terms of Fernando Henrique Cardoso´s administration, triggered discussions that prioritized the form and contents of the section ‘Letters to the Teacher’. The letters highlight that teachers should be creative, reflective and responsible for spreading quality in the praxis of education in early childhood. Results show that the magazine ‘Children’ provides several approaches to the writing of history for the historians of Education.