INSURGENT PLAY AND GENDER STEREOTYPES

REFLECTIONS FROM AN INTERNATIONAL INTERNSHIP IN ART AND EDUCATION

Abstract

This article presents the experience of a supervised internship carried out at the Colégio de Aplicação of the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC) in 2025, developed by a student of Early Childhood and Elementary Education with a specialization in Visual Arts from the University of Girona (Spain). The research aimed to identify gender stereotypes in the free play activities of the School Toy Library and to reflect on how artistic practices can problematize them. The experience was conducted through an a/r/tographic approach, intertwining the roles of artist, teacher, and researcher, while integrating observation, creation, and pedagogical mediation. As an outcome, a participatory art installation was created, conceived as an aesthetic mediation device, and later presented in an exhibition at the CA-UFSC Aesthetic Space. The results indicate that the proposal fostered critical questioning of stereotypes, broadened children’s ways of playing and expressing themselves, and provided the intern with meaningful learning about decolonial teaching, cultural sensitivity, and the construction of a critical, creative, and socially committed teaching identity.