Abstract:

The identity of a child is a complex construction influenced by a variety of factors ranging from the culture they are immersed into interactions with family, friends, and life experiences over time. However, we often overlook the significant impact that images have in this formative process, especially in the early years of life, where they can represent the most immediate way for a child to understand their world. In these interactions, school plays a fundamental role, and the presence of textbooks in the classroom contributes to shaping the child as a person. Within these textbooks, images are not mere supplements, but rather key elements that influence how children see themselves, perceive others around them, and interpret the world. Exposed to a variety of visual representations, children are constantly influenced and guided in the formation of their identity and understanding of the environment in which they are embedded. Given that the Environmental Studies textbook is the first book to introduce the world to children in its multiple dimensions, it was decided that this would be the best manual to be analyzed and deconstructed into its various components. The detailed analysis of some of these books - selected from 1974 to the present day - and within them, of some pages especially significant for the study, will allow us to examine the elements of this visual universe more clearly, with a descriptive and interpretative image analysis methodology. In this way, it will be possible to identify recurring patterns, entrenched stereotypes, and cultural representations that constitute the window through which the child perceives reality. Additionally, it is seminal to examine the role of graphic design in the design of manuals, through critical observation of elements such as page layout, visual composition, image aesthetics and graphics, as well as color symbolism. We will look at how images inhabit the pages, occupying more privileged areas in terms of visual perception or less prominent ones, as well as their relative scale to other images and their photographic or illustrative nature.

With this communication, we seek to make visible that the role of images in school textbooks goes beyond the educational aspect, also being a powerful tool in the construction of children's identity, in promoting a broader and more inclusive view of the world, and primarily, a path to build the substance of dreams with which one imagines the life to be lived.

Acknowledgement:
This article is written within the scope of the [in]visible project, which is funded by national funds through FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia, I.P., under project "2022.05056.PTDC". (https://invisible.i2ads.up.pt).

Keywords:

Identities, design, image, child, textbook.