Oncological children and the experiences of illness and pedagogical practices in a hospital environment

Abstract

This article aimed to understand the meanings attributed by children of an Oncology Center to the process of illness and pedagogical practices at hospital environment. This study is based on a descriptive qualitative approach. As research techniques, systematic observation, field diary and semi-structured interview were used. The universe of participants involved children from the Oncology Center of State Children's Hospital (HEC), in Feira de Santana, Bahia. In parallel to the systematic observation of pedagogical practices, interviews were conducted with eleven children. The collected data were analyzed based on content analysis. The perception of the hospital as a place of pain and healing was evidenced in the children's speeches. On the other hand, it is in the toy library that children find elements that bring them closer to the school environment, such as the pedagogical practice of storytelling. This practice emerges as a way to take the child from a reality of silence and isolation into a world where the dream is possible, in which fantasy transposes the limits imposed by the disease.