Creches Casulo no Amazonas: infância, história e educação, 1979-1999

Abstract

This thesis presents a historical research on the "Creches Casulo" (Cocoon Daycare Centers) operated by the Brazilian Legion of Assistance (LBA) in the Amazonas region between 1979, when the first daycare center in the state was inaugurated, and 1999, a period marked by the Law of Guidelines and Bases for National Education (LDB 9394/96) for the transfer of daycares from Social Assistance to Education. Here, we presume that these daycare facilities emerged in the context of large-scale initiatives for the care of children up to the age of six, implemented at a low cost, in collaboration with multilateral organizations, meeting Unicef demands, such as reducing extreme poverty in material and cultural spheres. We used the historical method, incorporating a social and cultural approach, including documentary research from newspapers and official and unofficial documents, alongside oral research through interviews and reports. The findings reveal that the expansion of daycare centers occurred directly through operational units of direct execution managed by the LBA, and indirectly through accredited operational units, in accordance with the National Security Doctrine (DSN). In Amazonas, the project served to allocate resources to existing daycare centers, implement methodologies focused on children, and to propagate the illusion that all initiatives related to daycare and preschool were products of the federal government, through the Casulo Project. Through coverage in regional and national newspapers, news about these daycare centers increased, especially in the 1980s, supporting local, state, and federal government initiatives and their leaders. This extensive publicity influenced the voluntary work of community members for childcare, assuming, albeit in a palliative manner, responsibilities that should have been in the hands of the State. We present aspects of the services provided in 14 Casulo Daycare Centers, 6 in Manaus and 8 in municipalities in the interior of Amazonas. The existence of uniforms, furniture (tables, chairs, cribs, hammocks, etc.), and a very strong civic spirit that permeates the educational institutions to this day are all examples of the material culture of these daycares that we unearthed. The work at Casulo daycare centers was structured according to their own routines and lesson plans, which included celebrations for festivities such as Easter, Mother's Day, June Festival, and Christmas as well as traditional celebrations for birthdays and graduations. The formative moments provided by LBA employees were developed based on constructivist concepts. We understand that the individuals working in these daycares created their own culture in the context of their times and places based on the material reality they experienced. With the neoliberal offensive and its political strategies of privatization, the State reduced its responsibility for maintaining essential policies such as education and health. Later, with the State's reorganization and municipalization, directly operated Casulo daycare centers were gradually deactivated. The LBA was extinct in 1995, and the children from the daycares centers were transferred to partner institutions, some of which still exist today, while many others were transformed into Early Childhood Education Centers (CMEIs) or Elementary Schools.