“ESTE É MEU NOME NA CHIBI!”

Notas sobre desenho e conhecimento entre os Calon

Abstract

When we think of research with children soon arise inquietudes and proposals to trace complementary methods in the realization of ethnography. The technique of drawing is one of the most used among researchers who work with children in different social contexts. In this article I present a debate on the use of drawing as a research technique among Calon gypsy children, and on the way the children give new meaning to the use of this research resource. The fieldwork was carried out in interspersed periods between the years 2013 and 2018 with Calon gypsy families, residing in the municipality of Mamanguape -PB. Through participant observation and conducting focus groups with Calon children of the locality, where I applied the thematic drawing technique, it was possible to realize that the use of drawings in addition to enabling the achievement of the research objectives, it became an element for children, present through it, their knowledge in contrast to mine. In this way, drawing as a technique enabled an understanding of the notions of childhood and education among gypsy children and went beyond the scope of the research, when it began to be used by the children to demonstrate their knowledge of the mother tongue (chibi). Indicated by some children in their drawings, the Chibi was explored within a mechanism that demonstrated Calon knowledge in counterpoint to non-Gypsy knowledge. Therefore, this text aims to present from the ethnographic experience the importance of the drawing technique as an element of unlimited meaning among the people involved in the research.