ACTION AND EMOTION SHARE SPACE

Alcalá, Maria

Galán, Juvi

Contexts and environments have an influence in the way we socially interact, in the learnings we make and in the experiences we live. We can see a revalorization of discourses that defend this idea, and hence that if we promote a diversity of contexts we can encourage different types of learnings, and more inclusive and emotionally healthy social relations. We know this discourse has been central for pedagogy and in the teachers' training programmes; authors such as  Montessori (1912), Malaguzzi (Hoyuelo, 2006), Freinet (1956), Giner de los Ríos (Colmenar, 2015) or Rosa Sensat (1934) at the beginning of the 20th century already defended this issue in their educative proposals, and their practices have been extended all over the world.

In this paper, we want to go in-depth and develop the idea of the importance of learning contexts from very early stages. We present an educative project that is being developed since 2008 for the 0 to 3 years old period, in a network of fifteen childhood education schools, in the Valencia region. Nonetheless, the project can also be developed in other educative levels (3-6 and primary education).

Different studies show the importance of an early entry into the formal educative system because this is a fundamental period for children's development and also because this level can have a key compensatory function, hence contributing to diminish social unequality[1] (Choi y Calero, 2013; Sánchez, 2009). Having said this, it is important to mention that the school's function for so early ages also tries to meet a social need which is conciliation between family and work areas. When infants school is the only option for families to meet these two areas the objective should be to provide children and families with the most enriching and appropriate contexts possible.

The pedagogic proposal we present is part of a wider frame for the promotion of infancy's culture, where children are the main protagonists of their own learning, and where to create, to discover, to move, to be excited, or to be confused have a value, hence time and environments are provided to growth with freedom. Development of competences and the expression of each person's essence relies on game, and the space must adapt to this to achieve the former. Knowledge of the world is promoted through cooperation, and affective relations are built from respect to diversity. Experimentation in and outside the classroom contributes to promote curiosity, autonomy, analysis, imagination and creative thinking. All these ideas are articulated in a pedagogic proposal of “worlds” that gather a series of innovative experiences that take place in specially designed and adapted spaces. A key element is that even when we might be conditioned by an architecture that has been inherited from past times partial or global transformation of the space are always possible. In our project, we propose a design of spaces and atmospheres where all senses are considered: smells, music, light, a diversity of materials (mostly natural elements).

Beyond the learning objectives that are established with children, this methodological proposal also implies the development of learning environments and spaces inside and outside the classroom that make possible rich relationships with the educative community and with families.

A key element in this project are the professionals that accompany and facilitate this process. In this sense, it was fundamental to identify and define which are the professional competences that are necessary to develop this project. In this communication, we will present these competences and the continuous training programme that workers undertake to achieve so and to ensure the quality of the project.

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Freinet, C. (1956) Les méthodes naturelles dans la pédagogie moderne, París, Bourrelier.

Hoyuelos Planillo, A. (2006) La estética en el pensamiento y obra pedagógica de Loris Malaguzzi (Temas de Infancia) Editorial octaedro S.L.

Montessori, M (2015) The Montessori Method: Scientific Pedagogy As Applied to Child Education in "The Children's Houses". Andesite Press. First edition 1912

Sánchez Blanco, C. (2009) En contra del fracaso escolar: Nuevos discursos, nuevos retos para la educación infantil. Revista Iberoamericana De Educación, N.º 51, pp. 33-66

Sensat, Rosa (1934) Hacia la nueva escuela. Madrid: Revista de Pedagogía, (La práctica de la educación activa ; 16)

Colmenar Orzaes, C., Rabazas Romero, T., Ramos Zamora, S. (2015) Francisco Giner De Los Ríos y Su Legado Pedagógico. Ed. Catarata