TEACHING IN NURSERY SCHOOLS: BRAZILIAN AND ITALIAN PERSPECTIVES ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CARE AND EDUCATION

Abstract

The article presents a cross-section of doctoral research that focused on the conceptions of early childhood education professionals from two different educational contexts, Brazil and Italy, and seeks to deepen discussions about the relationship between care and education, central elements of teaching in daycare centers, based on a theoretical framework that included recent literature in the field of early childhood education and studies of critical pedagogy matrices, as well as Brazilian and Italian educational laws and documents. The qualitative research was carried out through interviews with professionals from the municipal public network of a Brazilian city and two Italian cities, and the data was organized and described using Content Analysis. From the Brazilian perspective, the analysis of the data leads to a series of problematizations about the split between these two dimensions in nursery school teaching practice, since care is assumed in a restricted sense and is often related to assistance. In the Italian reality, a broad concept of care was identified, related to caring for others, relationships and space. It discusses the teachers' conceptions of care and education, which are deeply related to the material realities and pedagogical cultures of the participants, and argues for the need for further discussions in order to guarantee the rights of babies and very young children to quality education and care, a process in which dialogue with other realities is presented as a powerful and enriching element for intercultural exchanges in terms of professional learning.