Child protagonism as social pedagogy tool in early childhood education: experience of a Brazilian educational centre

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This article gives an account of a research experience in the Nossa Senhora Aparecida Centre, a Brazilian school located on the outskirts of Salvador de Bahia, run by the Fundação Betânia O.N.L.U.S. of the Franciscan Fraternity of Bethany. The Centre, which is free of charge, is responsible for the education of children aged 0 to 6 who come from highly disadvantaged social, economic and family backgrounds.The research aimed to investigate the applicability of the Reggio Emilia Approach in the context of the province of Salvador de Bahia and to investigate how the social value of this initiative is perceived by the protagonists of the Center. This article highlights a convergence between European and Brazilian education; the same pedagogical principles are valid and effective in different and distant contexts, in time and space. The child experiences a place where he or she can feel cared for, loved and appreciated; thanks to its protagonism, the simplicity of the educational contexts and the freedom to explore the environment, the child is able to enhance beauty and to be amazed. Child-centered pedagogy gives the school a social and human value, which identifiable in the recognition of the child’s dignity. The protagonism of the child, the main construct of the Emilian approach, reveals itself as the main tool of social emancipation, as Freire understood it, and therefore appears particularly reconcilable with a Brazilian pedagogical culture, that is the background to the social pedagogy projects of the educational Center analyzed.