Percepção sobre práticas educativas e estilos parentais de educadoras/cuidadoras em contexto de acolhimento institucional

Abstract

Educational practices are carried out by parents or caregivers with the aim of guiding and assisting in the development of children and adolescents. The literature shows that positive educational practices are anchored in actions and strategies of dialogue, affection, respect, trust, reciprocity, autonomy, among other qualities favorable to development. Identifying which practices are being implemented in reception services can contribute to actions to improve the care offered to children at personal and/or social risk. Therefore, the general objective of this research was to analyze the perception of educators/caregivers from an institutional care service about their educational practices and parenting styles. The specific objectives were to: 1) Characterize the biopsychosocial profile of educators/caregivers who work in the institutional care service; 2) Identify the types of educational practices aimed at children in care; 3) Know the types of predominant parental styles of educators/caregivers. It is noteworthy that this study was based on the Bioecological Theory of Human Development proposed by Urie Bronfenbrenner. This is descriptive-exploratory research with a qualitative and quantitative approach to the data. 14 educators/caregivers from a foster care institution for children aged zero to ten years old in the city of Imperatriz, in the state of Maranhão, participated. To collect data, a questionnaire was used to characterize the biopsychosocial profile of educators/caregivers, a semi-structured interview about educational practices and the Parenting Styles Inventory (IEP). Data from the interview on educational practices were analyzed using the Descending Hierarchical Classification (CHD) with the support of Iramuteq Software. The main results showed that, in relation to the biopsychosocial profile, the entire team of educators/caregivers at the researched institution was composed of women, aged between 22 and 56 years (M= 43.2; SD=9.192), mothers (85.7 %), with secondary education (50%). About educational practices, the presence of both positive educational practices (praise, listening, guidance, support, affective exchanges, and genuine interest) and negative educational practices (reprimand, use of religion as a way of controlling behavior and violent communication). It was also observed two ways in which the children treated their teachers, in which they were sometimes called mother and sometimes aunt. Furthermore, the difference in practices carried out between day and night shifts was noticed. Regarding parental styles, it was noticed that the professionals assessed themselves as carrying out positive educational practices such as positive monitoring and moral behavior and, to a lesser extent, negative educational practices such as negative monitoring and relaxed discipline. Based on the evidence found, it is suggested that strategies and training be implemented that favor the quality of relationships established in the context of institutional care. Furthermore, it is believed that these relationships should be marked by positive educational practices that help the child deal with their life story, strengthen their self-esteem and contribute to the construction of their identity. Finally, the importance of developing other research related to educational practices in institutional environments is emphasized, thus contributing to the strengthening of the area.