Crying as a form of infants’ resistance to caregiving and educational actions during mealtime in Early Childhood Education

ABSTRACT

This paper aims to analyze how infants, through crying, resist, guide, transform and redirect the caregiving and educational actions of their teachers a mealtime in a municipal early childhood education center (EMEI) in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais. The theoretical-methodological assumption of the Network of Meanings was the primary reference, combined with studies in Early Childhood Education. Data were collected through participant observation in a class composed of twelve infants and four teachers. The analysis highlighted the need to understand mealtime as an essential component of a curriculum that prioritizes the inseparable work of caring for and educating infants in daycare, as well as the relevance of infants’ crying as a relevant aspect in the planning and reflection on pedagogical practices in Early Childhood Education institutions.

Keywords:
Babies; Crying; Feeding at Daycare; Early Childhood Education; Caring and Educational Actions

RESUMO

Este artigo tem como objetivo analisar como os bebês, por meio do choro, resistem, orientam, transformam e reconduzem as ações de cuidado e educação de suas professoras durante um dos momentos de alimentação em uma EMEI de Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais. O pressuposto teórico-metodológico da Rede de Significações foi o principal referencial, sendo conjugado com os estudos da Educação Infantil. Os dados foram construídos por meio de observação participante em uma turma composta por doze bebês e quatro professoras e uma auxiliar. As análises evidenciaram a necessidade de os momentos de alimentação serem compreendidos como componente essencial de um currículo que priorize o trabalho indissociável de cuidar e educar bebês na creche, bem como a relevância de o choro dos bebês ser considerado como um aspecto no planejamento e nas reflexões sobre as práticas pedagógicas nas instituições de Educação Infantil.

Palavras-chave:
Bebês; Choro; Alimentação na Creche; Educação Infantil; Ações de Cuidado e Educação

Introduction

In this study, we aim to analyze how infants, through crying, resist, guide, transform, and redirect the caregiving and educational actions of their teachers during mealtime specifically, snack time. The data and analyses presented here are part of the corpus of a completed doctoral research project, which sought to examine how infants’ crying influences the educational and pedagogical relationships¹ developed in a Municipal Early Childhood Education School (EMEI) in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais. This qualitative research employed participant observation and video recordings as its main methods for data collection and construction, conducted in a class composed of twelve infants, four teachers, and one early childhood education support assistant.

In the doctoral research, we prioritized the analysis of episodes that occurred during the activities referred to in the EMEI as “pedagogical activities,” since a review of the video recordings revealed a greater degree of interference from infants’ crying during these moments. In this process, we also sought to shed light on what occurred during the more unstructured moments of play and interaction among the infants in the environment, thus aiming to conduct an analysis aligned with the theoretical and methodological assumptions of the Network of Meanings (RedSig) (Rossetti-Ferreira; Amorim; Oliveira 2009).

Based on the same assumptions, this article presents a specific focus, distinct from that adopted in the doctoral research, in which we prioritize the analysis of data related to one of the infants’ mealtime routines afternoon snack time with the aim of highlighting how these situations involve not only basic caregiving techniques but also interactions, play, and the infants’ own initiatives. These mealtime moments also clearly reveal how caregiving and educational practices are intertwined, reaffirming what the literature in the field emphasizes regarding the inseparability of care and education in early childhood education.

Drawing on the theoretical frameworks of Historical-Cultural Psychology, the Sociology and Pedagogy of Childhood, Anthropology, and Early Childhood Education, we begin with the assumption that infants are active, social, and capable subjects who interact with others and with their environment even before birth. It is through these interactions that they communicate with others, initially through emotional expressions, and, through this process, develop and constitute themselves as human beings (Barbosa, 2010; Cohn, 2013; Coutinho, 2010; Gottlieb, 2009; 2012; Luz, 2010; Rossetti-Ferreira; Amorim; Oliveira, 2009; Salutto; Nascimento, 2019; Vygotsky, 2007; Wallon, 1968; 1971).

Based on these studies, we present our analyses with the intention of contributing to the field of Early Childhood Education and to the reflections on infants’ crying as a relevant element of educational and pedagogical relationships in this context. We emphasize that all ethical procedures and considerations outlined in the Informed Consent Forms were strictly followed, as approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the Federal University of Minas Gerais. These included the use of fictitious names and adherence to ethical guidelines for conducting research with infants and young children, with particular attention to the need for nonverbal assent from the infants throughout the entire fieldwork process.

The tension between infants’ protagonism and invisibility in caregiving and educational relationships in Early Childhood Education

The tension between infants’ protagonism and invisibility in the relationships they establish across different contexts particularly in Early Childhood Education is directly related to the very definition of what an infant is and to the ways in which their care and education have historically been conceived. Although studies from various fields such as Early Childhood Education, Anthropology, and especially Historical-Cultural Psychology have sought to deconstruct conceptions of infants as incomplete subjects and the notion of care and education as separate domains, these issues remain a significant challenge. This is evidenced by the works of Salluto and Nascimento (2019) and Gottlieb (2012), who aim to bring visibility to infants by understanding them as active, capable, social, cultural, and research-worthy subjects.

Regarding the invisibility of infants, Rosemberg (2011) observes that, despite significant advances in public policy (Brazil, 1988; 1990; 1996; 2010; 2017) and in the academic sphere, there are still gaps concerning the inseparability and the meaning of caregiving and educational work. Infants are the least likely to attend daycare centers and, as a result, are the most likely to have their rights violated, including the right to be cared for by qualified professionals.

This is mainly due to the fact that the history of Early Childhood Education has been marked by a persistent tension between welfare-based and educational approaches, as well as by the notion of daycare centers as places of custody, shelter, and protection for infants and the poorest children in society, and of preschool as a preparatory stage for primary education (Kuhlmann Júnior, 2000; Vieira, 1986). This perspective continues to reinforce the separation between caregiving and education. In this context, more recent studies highlight the need for the implementation of public policies for both initial and continuing professional development, with particular attention to the specificities of caregiving and educational work with infants in Early Childhood Education (Barbosa, 2010; Coutinho, 2010; Rocha, 1999; Schmitt, 2008; 2014).

Regarding the care and education of infants in Early Childhood Education, Schmitt (2014, p. 38) notes that:

although there has already been significant progress in the objective conditions of early childhood education services, [...] the hiring of professionals for daycare centers remains, in many municipal systems, inconsistent with the new legislation, continuing to require lower qualifications than those demanded for preschool. Moreover, the pedagogical proposals adopted by municipal systems and by the institutions themselves often fail to clearly and visibly address the specificities inherent in the practices directed at infants.

Studies in Historical-Cultural Psychology help us to understand the specificities of infants and their development in an integrated manner, and they can support new discussions and conceptions regarding the infant as a subject and the work of care and education within the context of Early Childhood Education. These studies present human development as a dialectical process, emphasizing the importance of infants’ and young children’s interactions with others and with one another. Through these interactions, infants learn to “be in the world.” From around six months of age, crying which is initially biological also becomes an emotional expression imbued with meaning, and it is through these expressions that the first bonds with others and the environment are formed. In this way, infants develop and constitute themselves as subjects in a dynamic and dialectical process (Vygotsky, 2007; Wallon, 1968; 1971).

Aligned with these theoretical frameworks, studies by Rossetti-Ferreira, Amorim, and Oliveira (2009) in the field of Early Childhood Education in Brazil have shown that daycare centers represent a space of socialization, distinct from the family environment, where infants and young children interact with one another and with other adults, and can play an important role in the processes of development and learning. Based on a body of studies and research, the authors developed a theoretical and methodological perspective - the RedSig - which helps to understand the processes of meaning-making that occur in collective contexts involving infants, children, educators, daycare centers, and families. From this perspective, the understanding of interactive processes is shaped by a network of meanings and senses that mediates the interactions infants and children establish with others and with their environment within a given context.

Reflections and studies on the theme of care and the meanings of this work in Early Childhood Education, especially with infants, become all the more relevant given that it is a form of work that must be learned and valued like any other. Care practices involve different conceptions, values, and beliefs, and are therefore shaped by numerous factors from diverse social contexts. Thus, caregiving, even before being a set of actions, is a way of being both for the one who provides care and for the one who receives it. As such, the act of caring is constructed within social relationships (Guimarães, 2011; Maranhão, 2011).

Crying is an infant’s first form of communication. When it is welcomed by another, it first becomes meaningful to that other person, who interprets it and interacts with the infant in a particular way. These meanings constructed by adults affect infants and young children in such a way that they, too, construct their own meanings, internalizing the behaviors and interpretations assigned to them by the adult (Vygotsky, 2007; Wallon, 1968). In this sense, the responses to infants’ expressions and needs either nurture or fail to nurture the caregiver’s actions. “We nourish ourselves through one another” (Maranhão, 2011, p. 16).

Gonzalez-Mena and Eyer (2014) understand care as an essential component of the Early Childhood Education curriculum, since it is during moments such as diaper changing, feeding, bathing, and sleeping that the first emotional bonds between infants and adults are formed, within a process that is also emotional. Therefore, these caregiving routines are essential activities not only in the sense of meeting the physical needs of infants and young children, but also as integral elements of the Early Childhood Education curriculum.

The intentionality behind caregiving and educational work must encompass the organization of the environment and the interweaving of interactions, subjects, play, caregiving routines, exploration, objects, materials, time and space, expressions, gestures, movements, actions, voices, crying, and gazes that can foster educational experiences. We agree with Maranhão (2011) and Horn (2004) in emphasizing the importance of organizing the environment with attention to all these constituent elements.

With regard to mealtime in daycare, we understand this moment as something that goes beyond the act of feeding. It is an emotional process that is part of both caring and educating, and consists of exchanges of experiences among infants and between them and others, much like what typically occurs among adults in other settings. According to Piotto, Ferreira, and Pantoni (2011, p. 130), food is, beyond nourishment itself, “an explosion of shapes, flavors, textures, and colors. The child’s desire to grab, look, feel, and smell turns the contact with food into a celebration. A celebration for some, a mess for others”.

Gobbato and Barbosa (2017) problematize the (in)visibility of infants and very young children in educational policies, official documents, and legislation concerning Early Childhood Education, and observe that these subjects are still, to some extent, absent from research on childhood and early education. The authors argue that it is essential to ensure the effective social recognition of infants, their rights, and their potential. They also reiterate that,

an infant’s body communicates and produces. It produces cries, gestures, gazes, but its expressions are often devalued because its sounds are unintelligible, its movements appear random, and its smells indecipherable, as they challenge our notions of clean and dirty, appropriate and inappropriate. The biological infant - with all its uncertainties - is the most widely disseminated image of the infant (Gobbato; Barbosa, 2017, p. 28).

In their analysis of studies focused on infants over the past two decades, Silva and Neves (2020) found that, although there are relatively few works addressing this theme in Brazil, there has been a strong movement and growing investment by researchers in the field. These scholars have been dedicated to the construction of a Pedagogy of Childhood, and perhaps even pedagogies specifically designed with and for infants.

Among these more recent studies, few have focused on crying as a form of communication in this context (Amorim et al., 2012; Dentz, 2016; Eltink, 2000; Ferreira, 2020; Marques, 2023; 2019; Melchiori, 2004; Pantalena, 2010; Santos, 2012) or on the topic of infant feeding (Coutinho, 2002; Gonzalez-Mena; Eyer, 2014; Leite, 2020; Lessa, 2011; Richter; Vaz, 2011; Santos; Schapper; Stigert, 2022; Seabra; Seidl-Moura, 2005; Schmitt, 2008). None of these studies, however, specifically addressed crying as a form of resistance to the caregiving and educational actions of teachers during mealtime.

Richter and Vaz (2011) emphasize feeding as a component of the routine in institutions serving early childhood, shedding light on the meanings that this moment holds for infants. They conclude that this process involves more than physical nourishment; it encompasses pleasure and interaction. Seabra and Seidl-Moura (2005) investigated feeding contexts within adult-infant dyads, aiming to compare the activities of an infant and their caregiver at a daycare center during the first two years of life. Their results showed that there is an educational concern with infants during mealtime, considering this context as one that promotes child development beyond the satisfaction of a biological need.

Lessa (2011) presented the feeding routine in Early Childhood Education from the perspective of the social relationships established among the various agents involved in the feeding space. Among her findings, the author points out that, through play and social interactions, children learn the craft of being a student and, above all, to use their own expressions such as crying as one of the strategies for navigating and negotiating rules:

crying is a fundamental tactical instrument used by children and deserves special attention here due to its connection with a logic of tactical operation and, at the same time, as a clear expression of fear in response to punitive strategies based on intimidation and repression (Lessa, 2011, p. 185).

In the same vein, Coutinho (2002) found that children, in their own way and through their forms of expression, resist rules, transgress the routines imposed on them, and assert themselves as social subjects. For Schmitt (2008), mealtime represents an act of care and education involving social practices in which subjects are constituted through their relationships.

Leite (2020), in seeking to understand how infant feeding practices take place in a Municipal Early Childhood Education School (EMEI) in Belo Horizonte, emphasized that the issue of time is a fundamental element in feeding practices. It influences the quality of feeding experiences, the potential for social relationships embedded in the moment, and the infants’ capacity for effective action.

Considering the studies and research presented and affirming the process of recognizing the potential and protagonism of infants as subjects of rights, as well as crying as a relevant aspect of the interactions established within the context of Early Childhood Education, we present in this study our analyses focusing on one specific mealtime moment- afternoon snack time - as part of the infants’ daily routine. Before doing so, we provide information about the context in which the research was conducted.

Brief characterization of the routine and pedagogical work with infants in the research context

In Belo Horizonte, the implementation of municipal policies for the Early Childhood Education stage was consolidated with the enactment of the National Education Guidelines and Framework Law (LDBEN), Law Nº. 9,394 of 1996, as occurred throughout the country. With the establishment of Municipal Early Childhood Education Schools (EMEIs), Early Childhood Education began to be legally recognized in the municipality as a stage of Basic Education (Belo Horizonte, 2003; 2012). In 2018, after much advocacy and mobilization, the qualification requirements for the position of Early Childhood Education teacher were revised, and from that point on, only professionals with at least a higher education degree could hold the position (Belo Horizonte, 2018).

With regard to the organization of work and the pedagogical practices developed in the EMEIs, specific guidelines were developed as the result of a dynamic process of work and study involving not only specialists in the field, but also professionals from the Municipal Education Network itself. The Curricular Proposals, published by the Municipal Department of Education, were thus structured and officially released, reaffirming the principles already established in national legislation concerning Early Childhood Education, which guide pedagogical practices and all work carried out within the institutions (Belo Horizonte, 2014; 2015).

Based on the research conducted, we highlight here some elements related to the mealtime moments that were part of the nursery’s routine. We share the assumptions of Barbosa (2006) and Horn (2004), who understand this routine as a combination of time, space, and activities that go beyond repetitive tasks intended for the individuals within this environment. It is an organization based on an institutional structure that allows for flexibility, transformation, and modification through the actions of the subjects, as well as through their conceptions of care and education.

Thus, to provide a better understanding of the analyses presented here, we consider it important to briefly describe how the group’s routine was organized at the time of the field research. Infants who stayed at the EMEI on a full-time schedule, from 7:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., followed a relatively fixed routine of activities. The main morning activities were designated as follows: Welcome, Bottle Feeding, Snack, Bath, Lunch, Diaper Change, and Nap. In the afternoon, around 12:45 p.m., after the infants were awakened, the routine resumed with the same sequence: Bottle Feeding, Diaper Change, Afternoon Snack, Dinner, Diaper and Clothing Change, and Nap, until pickup time. In addition to this daily routine, there were also activities referred to as “pedagogical activities,” related to two projects implemented in the nursery: Ateliês and Sensações (“Ateliers” and “Sensations”). These activities were conducted on alternating days and included group circles held in the classroom, as well as outings to other areas of the EMEI, such as the library, garden, lobby, playground, and solarium.

We emphasize that, in our research, among the various moments of care and hygiene-such as welcoming, bathing, diaper changing, napping, waking up, and meals-afternoon snack time emerged as one of the most tension-filled parts of the routine. We therefore propose to analyze this moment in order to capture and understand the nuances that characterized it when intersected by the infants’ crying.

Infants’ crying during mealtime at the EMEI

Across our analyses, it was generally possible to observe how infants are protagonists of their own development and learning, acting as subjects who interact, resist, and provoke actions and changes within the environment. By turning our attention to the data that helped us understand what occurred during the six daily mealtime moments, we identified certain regularities particularly in relation to infants’ crying that led us to focus more specifically on afternoon snack time. We selected ten episodes for analysis, based on the criteria and elements highlighted by the RedSig framework (Rossetti-Ferreira; Amorim; Oliveira, 2009).

Unlike lunch and dinner, which took place in the cafeteria along with older children, the first meals of the morning and afternoon were served collectively inside the nursery classroom. Afternoon snack time occurred around 1:15 p.m., a few minutes after bottle feeding, and lasted between 20 and 30 minutes. The snack was usually served to the twelve infants by two teachers and the assistant, who was present in most of the episodes analyzed.

We observed that, during these moments, music was sometimes played for the infants. The teachers placed mattresses on the floor for the infants to sit on while the snack was served. The food offered varied according to the menu established by the EMEI’s administration. Regardless of what was served, the organization and spatial arrangement of the infants in the classroom remained the same.

The teachers usually served two or more infants at a time, using separate plates, as most of them could not tolerate waiting to be fed. In the classroom, various materials were available (stuffed animals, fabric ribbons, containers, and plastic toys such as cars and colorful balls), but infants were not allowed to get up and move toward them or to explore the space. They were only permitted to get up after finishing all their food. In most of the episodes, the infants resisted these restrictions by crying, and the environment became highly tense. In her research, Schmitt (2014) also points to this issue, identifying significant tension during mealtime, with intense episodes of crying among the infants.

We now present one of the episodes that helps to illustrate how infants, through crying, resist, guide, and transform their teachers’ caregiving and educational actions during snack time.

In the episode presented, teachers Janaína and Laura are in the nursery classroom with the infants, and it is time for the afternoon snack. In general, this activity, according to the nursery’s daily routine, takes place around 1:15 p.m. The teachers begin to prepare the snack while simultaneously speaking with the infants, asking them to sit down so that they can be served. They insist that the infants sit on the mat to eat, but, overall, the infants are unable to do so.

Laura sits on the floor facing Tiago, Guilherme, and Mário to serve them. The other infants watch and begin to babble. The teacher says, “Janaína is coming with the others, calm down, calm down.” Janaína is distributing the portions into the other plates and now sits down to serve the remaining infants. As they finish eating, the infants begin to walk around the room. Danubia remains seated near Laura, and from time to time Laura offers her papaya, which she accepts. Now Danubia moves closer and wants to grab the spoon to feed herself. Laura says, “No, you have to wait. Laura will give it to you, Laura will give it to you.” Danubia begins to cry, raises her arms, and bends down, intensifying her crying. She stands up and looks at Laura, who offers her another spoonful of papaya. Danubia stops crying and eats. She remains there. (Transcription from video recording made on 10/26/2017).

Figure 1:
Sequence of the episode “Snack time”

We observed how tumultuous this moment was, with the teachers appearing restless, walking back and forth, and displaying more serious facial expressions, as if they were tense. It was rare for crying not to emerge in such situations.

It is “humanly impossible” to serve all the infants at once, yet the teachers tried to offer the snack to two or three simultaneously. The ratio of teachers to infants is a matter that deserves greater attention from institutional policies, as it is a fundamental factor for ensuring quality caregiving and educational work. Infants have a recurring need not only for essential basic care - such as hygiene, feeding, bathing, and sleep - but also for affective physical contact with an adult, considering that they also communicate through their bodies and emotions (Goldschmied; Jackson, 2006; Wallon, 1968; 1971).

The infants were placed on a mat on the floor in such a way that they were all within the same field of vision and close to one another, which could have allowed them to interact. However, the teachers’ constant interventions prevented these interactions from fully taking place. Furthermore, the infants were not allowed to move freely around the classroom space. According to Richter and Vaz (2011, p. 497), “what is denied, prohibited, or simply repressed what is perceived in children and intended to be eliminated ends up emerging in the form of discomfort, humiliation, rude gestures, and harsh words”.

Another issue that deserves attention is the fact that some infants who were not yet being served had to wait in a space and time that was not planned for such a purpose. This raises the following questions: Is it possible to think of a way to organize the environment for this moment, in order to offer them other activities while they wait for their food? Or to consider how these teachers might organize themselves so they can be more available to these infants? This mealtime becomes an effective part of the pedagogical action in Early Childhood Education through the teachers’ intentionality, whether in planning the routine itself or in how they relate to the children.

In this regard, the adults’ anticipation and haste end up interrupting the infants’ actions. When they take longer to perform certain tasks or actions, they are perceived as incapable. In her research, Coutinho (2002, p. 13) found that “more than simply opposing what is established namely, sitting and eating [infants and young children] express a desire to be in motion. A desire that drives them to transgress what is permitted, to go beyond, seeking possibilities for creation and for expressing their own culture”.

We consider it pertinent to reflect on what the environment is offering or making possible for the infants (Rossetti-Ferreira; Amorim; Oliveira, 2009; Wallon, 1968), since this moment of care is rich in learning opportunities and holds great potential for discoveries and for triggering new activities, especially those initiated by the infants themselves. For infants, being fed is a rich experience that goes beyond the ingestion of food; it is a process of interactions that engages them emotionally. Leite (2020) showed that, in addition to being moments full of potential and learning opportunities, feeding practices provide infants with experiences of exchange in which, while being cared for, they also learn to care for themselves and for other. In the sequence presented in Figure 1, we observe how baby Danubia responds to the caregiving actions of teacher Laura, who is offering food to her and to other infants simultaneously. Danubia approaches the teacher and, through gestures, shows her interest in holding the spoon and possibly feeding herself. According to Gonzalez-Mena and Eyer (2014), the earlier infants have the opportunity to feed themselves, the faster they learn and become more autonomous. For this reason, it is important that these moments be carefully planned by teachers - not only in terms of their own actions, but also the organization of the environment: time, space, materials, and the welcoming of desires and initiatives that infants express through their bodily and emotional languages. After all, “one eats better when the context fosters well-being, when there is emotional and relational attunement with adults and with peers” (Staccioli, 2018, p. 61).

Teacher Laura does not allow the infant to take the spoon and speaks to her, asking her to wait her turn to eat. Generally, adults do not allow infants to handle utensils during mealtime, considering both concerns about maintaining order in the environment and potential risks, such as the possibility of one infant harming another with an object like a spoon. Maranhão (2011) states that caring and teaching self-care are not easy tasks for teachers, as the demands and responsibilities are numerous both regarding how infants interact and concerning their safety and the limited time already predetermined for daily activities. As previously mentioned, this time, like the entire routine in Early Childhood Education institutions, is pre-established, and teachers are often required to carry out activities very quickly and in an automated manner (Guimarães, 2011).

We also observed in the episode presented that the infant did not appear satisfied with the situation and, through her crying, attempted to resist the teacher’s action. She cried and made gestures with her body while looking at the teacher, who then redirected her attention to the infant and offered her another spoonful of fruit. Lessa (2011, p. 184), in discussing the subtleties of crying, noted how it influences the rigidity of rules and emerges as “a reaction against coercive strategies for enforcing norms.”

Continuing with our observations, we noted as described in the excerpt below how the events unfolded during this snack time. Danubia’s action approaching the teacher and attempting to grab the spoon affected the other infants, who then began to do the same. Infant Guilherme, upon finishing his snack, noticed that his plate was within reach.

Guilherme picks up a small plate and a spoon and begins to bang one object against the other, producing a sound. Laura watches and says to him, “Don’t bang, it’s for pretending to cook.” But Guilherme continues. The noise draws the attention of the other infants, and Isadora, who is sitting across from Guilherme, tries to pull the plate out of his hand. Ricardo is also sitting nearby, close to Laura. He sees an empty plate and picks it up. Laura then takes the plate from his hand without saying anything. Ricardo begins to cry. Laura now says to him, “This one is Tiago’s. Janaína, get his for me.” Laura continues offering papaya to Danubia, and as she brings the plate closer to her, Danubia grabs it and manages to hold it between her legs. Danubia looks at the plate and at Laura. Other infants bang their spoons against their plates; they seem to enjoy it because they sometimes smile. Danubia does the same (Transcription from video recording made on 10/26/2017).

Figure 2:
Sequence of the episode “Snack time”

The actions of infant Guilherme influence the others. The interest in the objects and the sounds they produce spreads among the infants, as they become engaged both in a dispute over the objects and in a game they initiated themselves. According to Maranhão (2011), these caregiving routine moments present valuable opportunities for play initiated by the infants, resulting, as previously mentioned, in rich and meaningful learning experiences for them. The teachers, focused on the task of feeding the infants, do not realize that what was taking place could have been the beginning or the possibility of other activities just as important as feeding. “The daily routine, at times, ‘numbs’ the teacher, preventing her from reading the meanings that children assign to the activities proposed to them” (Horn, 2004, p. 92).

The teacher does not allow infant Ricardo to take the plate, and when she takes the object from his hand, he begins to cry, expressing his dissatisfaction. The teacher speaks to the infant and then to the other teacher. In this way, we observe that the teachers’ actions are guided and redirected as the infants cry. “Children take the lead in narratives [...] they transform the space and provoke, at the very least, a sense of unease in the teacher” (Horn, 2004, p. 71). The teachers try to calm the infants by offering them objects, pieces of fruit, and even by physically moving them to different locations. However, the infants persist they want the plates and spoons. Baby Danubia, engaged in the situation, manages to grab a plate. Other infants also have plates and spoons, giving rise to an improvised orchestra in the nursery classroom. The infants bang their spoons on the plates, smiling as they look at one another and at the teachers. As the noise intensifies, they strike the plates with even more energy.

Through their crying and gestures, the infants show interest in other experiences, such as exploring the environment, making discoveries, and initiating their own activities. The act of banging the spoon against the plate to produce sound becomes, in that moment, their main activity. We observe that they create and initiate a form of play, reaffirming their agency and presence as subjects who, in their own way, act, create, resist, transgress, direct, and transform the environment in which they are embedded especially in caregiving and educational actions. These entanglements reveal the inseparability of care and education in daycare settings.

In light of this, we agree with Goldschmied and Jackson (2006, p. 25) when they state that play does not depend solely on the availability of toys, and that “the better the quality of the play opportunities offered to children, the more enjoyable the experiences will be for both the children and the adults”.

Baby Ricardo watches what is happening while he is still being served by teacher Laura. He looks at her, and she says, “Don’t touch, don’t touch.” He then begins to cry again. The teacher stands up and finally leaves the plate and spoon with him. She moves away from Ricardo for a few moments.

The teachers are not engaged in the infants’ activity. They are now occupied with organizing the objects and bringing that moment of the caregiving routine to a close. Although Buss-Simão and Mafra-Rebelo (2019) conducted research with older children, their work helps us reflect on infants within the context of mealtime, in which, in order to maintain calm and order in the environment,

the teachers imposed rules such as: keeping quiet, not running, chewing with mouths closed, not standing up during meals, respecting peers and teachers, not pushing, asking for toys politely, and lying down to rest during nap time (Buss-Simão; Mafra-Rebelo, 2019, p. 250).

Through the description of the episode, we observe how this environment would need to be better organized for this moment not only in terms of time, space, and materials, but also regarding the teachers’ actions. As Staccioli (2018) suggests, routines can be experienced either as sterile habits or as fertile actions, in the sense of welcoming infants’ demands and initiatives. From a single mealtime, other practices can be developed and experienced by the infants. However, if the environment is not welcoming, these practices may become exhausting and stressful for both the infants and the teachers.

As the events unfolded, we noticed that baby Ricardo was very frustrated, crying for most of the time. After approximately 15 minutes, he finally managed to get the objects he wanted so that he could participate in what was happening in the room an activity involving nearly all the infants that seemed to be a form of play”.

Ricardo crawls to grab the plate from another infant. He manages to take it, but Laura takes it from him again. He cries. Laura says to Ricardo, “Don’t touch, don’t touch.” Ricardo continues to cry, and then Laura leaves the plate and spoon with him. He begins to bang the spoon against the plate. Mirela is also there. She seems to want the plate that Ricardo is holding, and Laura observes and says to her, “No, it’s his.” Mirela looks at Ricardo and, raising her hand, scratches his face with her fingernail. She then looks at her own hand. Ricardo cries intensely. Laura says, “Oh, Mirela. Didn’t I say it was his... There, Ricardo, there, it’s over.” Ricardo cries heavily. Teacher Cremilda approaches and picks him up. She walks toward the sink holding him and takes a tissue to wipe his face. The teachers talk and check whether there is any injury on the infant’s face. Ricardo gradually stops crying. (Transcription from video recording made on 10/26/2017).

Figure 3:
Sequence of the episode “Snack time”

From the moment baby Ricardo cries after being hurt by baby Mirela, teacher Cremilda who had just arrived approaches and picks him up, while checking his face. Trusting in infants’ capabilities is both necessary and possible, and assisting them “without stifling their initiative contributes to their self-confidence and, at the same time, to their sense of security” (Maranhão, 2011, p. 24). However, accidents do happen, and this is likely one of the reasons why teachers often feel tense and uncertain about giving infants greater autonomy. “With every premature reaction, a valuable learning opportunity may be lost. But if you delay... the children may even end up hurting one another (Gonzalez-Mena; Eyer, 2014, p. 76).

On the other hand, when such moments are not conceived with infants’ autonomy as an integral part of a complex and dynamic curriculum, interactions can become exhausting, unsatisfying, and conflict-ridden, often leading to crying being a recurrent presence. Finally, we reiterate that these mealtime moments represent valuable opportunities for integrating care and education, and that they were deeply intertwined with the infants’ crying.

Final considerations

The analyses carried out revealed that infants are active, agentive, and capable subjects who continuously assert themselves as persons in the world through their specific forms of communication resisting, creating, guiding, directing, and influencing the actions of those responsible for their care and education, both in daycare settings and in other collective contexts.

In this work of care and education, infants are protagonists who shape the environment in which they are embedded, just as the environment also shapes them. It is through this process of meaning-making that they constitute themselves as the persons they are and, while being cared for, learn to care for themselves and for others. Through their crying, we observed how infants altered the context in which they were situated - specifically, snack time -, by directing, resisting, and guiding the caregiving actions of their teachers.

It is important to emphasize that the analyses also allowed us to identify the challenges, possibilities, and setbacks regarding the place of infants within the context of Early Childhood Education. The need to “follow the rules” is rooted as early as the nursery stage, imposed by the very structure of institutional organization. We consider this to be a highly complex and serious issue. In light of this, it is essential that teachers, administrators, and public authorities become more aware of the issues that shape educational and pedagogical relationships in Early Childhood Education.

As Gobbato and Barbosa (2017, p. 30) remind us, the challenge lies in drawing closer to the infants who are so near and yet, at the same time, so distant. The authors reiterate that “if we are attentive, we may realize that the very presence of infants in daycare demands the development of new studies that offer ways of bringing them out of the shadows that our own gaze has constructed.”

Therefore, we stress how fundamental it is for teachers to consider infants’ crying as an indicator of their caregiving and educational practices within Early Childhood Education institutions, as well as an essential component of the curriculum in the inseparable work of caring for and educating infants in daycare.

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• Support or funding:
  We would like to thank the Minas Gerais State Research Support Foundation - FAPEMIG, for funding the project that includes the research that originated the article.

• 1
  This expression was used by Schmitt (2014) based on the meanings attributed by other authors in the field of Early Childhood Education. For the author, the use of the term indicates that not only pedagogical practices are educational, but more importantly, all relationships involving the subjects within the context of early childhood education are inherently educational as well.

• Availability of research data:
  The entire set of data that supports the results of this study is not available, due to the guarantee of anonymity and confidentiality assured by the Free and Informed Consent Form.
• How to cite this article:
  MARQUES, Fernanda Pedrosa Coutinho; LUZ, Iza Rodrigues da. Crying as a form of infants’ resistance to caregiving and educational actions during mealtime in Early Childhood Education. Educar em Revista, Curitiba, v. 41, e91910, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1590/1984-0411.91910

• Responsible editor
  Editor-in-chief: Angela Scalabrin Coutinho.

Data availability

The entire set of data that supports the results of this study is not available, due to the guarantee of anonymity and confidentiality assured by the Free and Informed Consent Form.

Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  03 Nov 2025
• Date of issue
  2025

History

• Received
  20 July 2023
• Accepted
  12 May 2025