The model of Developmental Niche contributes in way to propose the child's study and
the culture as a single analysis, by three mutually related components, (a) physical and
social environment, (b) care practices and (c) caretaker psychology. Along all
developmental psychology research field, we highlight the institutional care environment,
enabling to investigate its influence on the development of children away from their
families, and mainly provide data that enable interventions for child development. For
this, it is necessary to know the environment, practices and views on the care of
professionals who provide care to children in institutional care, because according to the
Niche model, these elements contribute to shaping the development of children. This
study aimed to investigate the development environment of institutional shelters for
children from zero to six years, based on the three subsystems of the niche, comparing
two contexts, metropolitan region of Belém (RMB) and the countryside of state (IE) from
the look of educators institutional shelters. The data was collected by semi structured
interviews with educators from 11 shelters in the state of Pará. 110 educators, 107 females
and three male, between 19-63 years participated. The group of the Metropolitan Region
of Belém was composed by 77 participants and the countryside by 33. The results indicate
that, both in the metropolitan and countryside area, the Institutions had large and wooded
areas, However, in the metropolitan region had Institutions which met large groups of
children, separating them in the dorms by gender and/or age group. Regarding the care
practices, educators in the metropolitan region of Belém value more free plays activities,
while the educator from the rural zones prefers oriented plays. About the educators’
psychology, the results show that educators in the metropolitan region of Belém better
realize the influence of his work in the development of autonomy, curiosity and the ability
to relate to others. The study indicated that although there are differences between
concepts and care practices, it predominates the homogeneity of both in the metropolitan
area of Belém and Countryside State. It should be noted that the analysis presented is far
from clarifying the quality of care and institutional routines in the metropolitan area of
Belém and the countryside, but has contributions to the area since the instrument was
useful to survey the profile, conceptions and practices educators of care in institutional
shelters.
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