Abstract

RECKTENVALD, Karina  and  DONELLI, Tagma Marina Schneider. Nursery Teachers' Mentalizing. Estud. pesqui. psicol. [online]. 2021, vol.21, n.3, pp. 990-1007. ISSN 1808-4281.  http://dx.doi.org/10.12957/epp.2021.62706.

Mentalization is the ability to interpret one's own behaviors and those of others in terms of mental states. In the present exploratory study, we aimed to evaluate the mentalizing capacity of nursery educators that work with babies between four and eighteen months old in Early Childhood Education schools. Four educators working in Porto Alegre and the metropolitan region participated in the survey, three of them work in the public system and one in the private system. We employed the following instruments: Sociodemographic and Professional Data Questionnaire; and Life Story and Current Relationships Interview, which was analyzed according to the Checklist for the clinical assessment of mentalizing. The classification of the participants' mentalizing capacity ranged from "good" to "very high" in the four contexts evaluated by the Checklist. It is concluded that the result is positive because a good mentalizing capacity of the caregivers is attached to the offer of quality care and the possibility for the teacher to think about how he relates to the children. It also contributes to the development of their capacity to mentalize. There is a need for further research to validate instruments for assessing mentalization in the country, to create and test interventions that aim at promoting it, including in contexts other than schools.

Keywords : mentalization; preschool teachers; child day care centers.

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