Abstract
Spatial thinking is a cognitive ability developed in the daily routine, which can be systematised through a number of different school subjects, in particular Geography. The comprehension of the spatial thinking concept and the investigation of how it can be developed in a systematised way is a central theme in contemporary education, comprising the broad range of languages that can be used to represent space. Here, we analyse the different ways in which geographic knowledge can broaden spatial thinking. For this, we consider three fundamental aspects of early childhood education in Brazil: (i) the conception of the child as a subject, endowed with the right to spatial knowledge; (ii) spatial thinking as an interdisciplinary field that is fundamental for geographic education, and (iii) the didactic sequence as a teaching method. We developed a sequence of activities with 4–6 year-old children, considering their concept of location and the spatial notions of ‘on’ and ‘under’, in the context developing life on the planet surface and what may exist underground. Our theoretical basis was the studies of Vygotsky on the role of speech in conceptual construction, and we evaluated the interactions of the children through their words and gestures, using graphs to support our analysis, which was based on a qualitative approach. The concepts of location, condition, connection and map were presented from the perspective of a child, with spatial representations expressed in different ways. The four aspects—concept, ability, representation and knowledge—of spatial representation composed the activities and the references used to develop spatial thinking, focusing on geographic knowledge. We conclude that the development of spatial concepts through contextualised activities and the cultivation of intentionality allows the child to adopt ways of thinking that will support other perspectives on spatial knowledge, which will provide the child with a network of meanings. Words play a critical role in the construction of the concept, given that they give substance to a thought or a generalisation. By dialoguing with others, the child learns new words and meanings.
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Notes
- 1.
The author recommends Almeida and Almeida (2012) for an overview of the history of School Cartography in Brazil.
- 2.
Research funded by the São Paulo State Research Foundation—FAPESP.
- 3.
This chapter discusses different perspectives and insights from those already presented in the thesis.
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Juliasz, P.C.S. (2021). The Role of Language in the Construction of Spatial Thinking in Early Childhood Education. In: Vanzella Castellar, S.M., Garrido-Pereira, M., Moreno Lache, N. (eds) Geographical Reasoning and Learning. International Perspectives on Geographical Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-79847-5_13
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