“Participatory Pedagogies in Early Childhood Education” with hundreds of professionals!

The online seminar “Participatory Pedagogies in Early Childhood Education” hosted by ChildDiary and AEEP, brought together over 150 professionals in Early Childhood Education on Saturday morning, May 6! Find out how it went…

Managers, Coordinators, Kindergarten Educators and Assistants came together for this event and had the opportunity to enjoy the inspiring insights from our guest speakers!

Speakers who provided moments of reflection

1. Daniela Silva with: Emmi Pikler Approach

We started this seminar with Daniela Silva, Technical and Pedagogical Director at Associação Gerações, who introduced us to the Emmi Pikler Approach. In her speech she explained who Emmi Pikler was and the principles she advocated for the development and learning of babies.

In this approach, according to the speaker, education professionals are constantly challenged to observe more and intervene less!

This statement does not mean that they do not intervene, but they can do so in the way they organise the space, select materials, establish interactions, … according to the principles and values of this approach: Autonomous activity; Significant Privileged Affective Relationship; Awareness of oneself and the environment that surrounds it; Physical, psychological and emotional well-being.

“I believe in a unique, autonomous and competent child. But how does that show in my practices?” Daniela Silva

The speaker ended the presentation by challenging participants to record their practices, especially in moments of care, so that they can reflect on them based on Piklerian principles.

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2. Inês Machado with: Pedagogia-em-Participação

The second speaker Inês Machado, Early Childhood Educator, Trainer in Context and Researcher in the areas of Childhood Pedagogy and Training of Childhood Professionals, presented us with “Pedagogia-em-Participação”.  In her intervention, she distinguished Pedagogia-em-Participação, as participatory pedagogy, from transmissive (traditional) pedagogy.

One of the problems he highlighted in his presentation is the overemphasis on curricular content, justified by “preparation” for the first cycle. It is common to assess only the cognitive dimension, without taking into account the emotional, psychological, social, … dimension of the child.

“It is a pedagogy that is not solitary like a traditional one, but is accompanied by parents, families and professionals” Inês Machado,

She concluded her presentation by pointing out that PEP is not a child-centred pedagogy, but one that focuses on the adult-child relationship.

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3. Ana Galvão and Ana Passos e Sousa with: Forest School

Ana Galvão and Ana Passos e Sousa, Pedagogical and Technical Directors of Escola Lá Fora, addressed the Forest School methodology. They began by justifying the choice of this methodology for their project and illustrated through photographs and a video the learning experiences they develop with children in the forest.

In their presentation, they mentioned that this methodology is suitable for any age group and that the implementation of a project of this nature implies the realisation of regular sessions that make it possible to create a connection with nature and a relationship with space.

Finally, they explained the guiding principles of this methodology:

• Respect for the individuality and characteristics of each child
• Respect for the natural development time of each child
• Free play as the most complete form of learning

“We always felt that something was missing, that the four walls limited us a little. That’s when we learnt about the Forest School model”  Ana Galvão and Ana Passos e Sousa

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• Lúcia Bronze with: Movimento da Escola Moderna

Our last speaker, Lúcia Bronze, an early childhood educator who held the Movimento da Escola Moderna Initiation Workshop in 2014 and who has attended several annual MEM congresses, finalized the seminar by presenting this model. From the historical contextualisation, she explained that this model is based on democratic, ethical, participation and cooperation principles.

Lúcia Bronze, also stressed that the Modern School Movement is based on a socio-constructivist perspective, showing examples of the organization of the educational environment and practices in the context of Pre-School Education.

See the testimony of Lúcia Bronze’s walk:

It was a difficult journey and there were times when it seemed I was not sure I would make it. I was wrong to make sudden and abrupt changes. I wanted to get everything up and running faster than my group of children would allow (…).

Now I can see where I went wrong and this learning will lead me to conquer new strategies and moderate my anxiety of having the perfect group of children. After all, there are no perfect groups… and in fact it is not a perfect group that I want either. I just want my group to feel that at the end of the day I brought my mission accomplished, I gave my best and helped each of those children to become an autonomous, responsible, democratically aware and happy being.

Suggested content:

The Influence of Vygotsky in Movimento da Escola Moderna – Early Childhood Educations Curriculum in Portugal in:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/232880544_The_influence_of_Vygotsky_in_movimento_da_escola_moderna_early_childhood_education_curriculum_in_Portugal 

Ariana Oliveira | Early Years Education Specialist and customer support

The dynamization of these events with partners really is something that makes us stand out! 

When we say that ChildDiary is not “just” a platform, it is true! 

In addition to enjoying these events, our customers have the opportunity to participate in different free pedagogical trainings that few platforms can offer them, as well as excellent customer support. Allow your team to stay motivated with our platform with exceptional support from our customer service team!