THE CONTINUING EDUCATION OF LITERACY TEACHERS IN CHILDREN’S LITERATURE FROM AN AESTHETIC PERSPECTIVE: A QUALITATIVE UNDERSTANDING OF THE MUNICIPAL EDUCATION NETWORK OF ITAJAÍ - SC

Children’s literature occupies, within the context of literacy education, a field marked by tension between its aesthetic potential and its instrumental use in service of teaching the writing system. In light of this scenario, this study problematizes how the continuing education of literacy teachers in the municipal school system of Itajaí, Santa Catarina, conceives of and promotes children’s literature as an aesthetic experience. The general objective was to analyze, through a qualitative approach, the ways in which continuing education understands aesthetic children’s literature. Methodologically, the study is characterized as qualitative, with a descriptive–interpretative nature (Minayo, 2014; Flick, 2009), using as its data production instrument a questionnaire administered to 39 education professionals, whose open-ended responses were analyzed through content analysis (Bardin, 2011). The results indicate that, although teachers recognize the importance of children’s literature and mobilize conceptions aligned with the ideas of art, culture, and humanization, practices marked by utilitarian uses of literary works persist, conditioned by curricular demands, weaknesses in professional training, and limitations of available collections. It is concluded that continuing education, as experienced by the participants, proves to be ambiguous, fostering the presence of literature but failing to systematically ensure its realization as an aesthetic experience. The study points to the need for formative processes that articulate theory, practice, and experience, recognizing children’s literature as a cultural right and a humanizing axis of literacy education.