ABSTRACT
The article characterizes the childcare, educational psychology and pedagogy discourses on the effects of the environment on child development based on books published in Brazil between 1930 and 1980. In the discourses of the human sciences, this period was characterized by a strong association between the promotion of individuals’ development and social progress. The authors believed that public investments in the creation of better health and education conditions for children would favor the country’s progress. They considered the school as a fundamental environment to promote the healthy development and civilization of children. They stated that the pedagogical activities should be appropriate to the stages of development and carried out in spaces that favored group activities, the performance of experiences and bodily expansion in contact with nature.
KEYWORDS:
Environment; Development; Childcare; Psychology; Pedagogy