Psychomotricity, corporeality, gender and positivist philosophy in Chile: a critical analysis of ministerial documents

Abstract

Formal education can be understood as a cultural activity that is influenced by multiple epistemological perspectives that are present in society. In addition, each nation has its own particularities based on its own unique history and citizenship. One of the theoretical currents that has had a pedagogical boom in recent years in Latin America is the feminist perspective, promoting gender equality. Considering this context, this essay was developed with the objective of analyzing from a critical and gender perspective four Chilean ministerial documents on psychomotricity and corporeality in early childhood. The analyses showed that there is a marked behaviourist, positivist, neoliberal and uncritical tendency towards gender, psychomotor skills and corporeality in the ministerial texts considered. In this way, it would be promoting an early childhood education that assumes a passive attitude towards social injustices and patriarchal gender stereotypes. In this sense, a technical and traditional curricular rationality is being reproduced among teachers and children. © Copyright: Federación Española de Asociaciones de Docentes de Educación Física (FEADEF).