Teachers' perception about playing with Adventures

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Play constitutes a central language of childhood and a structuring axis of Early Childhood Education, promoting the exploration of the body, spaces, and relationships. In this context, Adventure Body Practices (ABPs) interact with play by involving challenges, environmental exploration, controlled risk, and autonomy.
OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to analyze teachers' perceptions of the presence of Adventures in children's play and their implications for pedagogical practice in school Physical Education.  
METHODS: This is a qualitative, exploratory study developed in a university extension course based on collaborative action research, with the participation of Basic Education teachers. The data were generated through teacher narratives produced using the digital tool Padlet and analyzed according to the methodological assumptions of Content Analysis (Bardin, 2016). 
RESULTS: From these analyses, the following categories emerged: Adventure as a dimension constitutive of children's play; Space, territoriality, and the emergence of Adventure; Risk and fear; and Pedagogical intentionality and adventurous practices in Early Childhood Education. The results indicate that Adventure is widely present in school play, although it is challenged by fears, teacher conceptions, and institutional limits. 
CONCLUSION: It is concluded that teachers perceive Adventures as educational opportunities when linked to play, contact with nature, and the appreciation of territories. We emphasize the need to deepen studies of Adventures with children, especially based on everyday school experiences, as well as highlighting the relevance of collaborative training as a space for collectively building curricular proposals that are coherent with the life pulsating in educational units.