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Early Education in Italy: Research and Practice

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Abstract

This article provides an overview of Italian ECEC services, their development and educational culture. In Italy, out of home day care for children under 3 became a quantitatively significant phenomenon in the last 30 years. Its development was characterized by the close collaboration between research agencies and ECEC services. A rich variety of studies on early education was produced. Some themes appear particularly relevant with regard to their implications for educational practice. The relationship between ECEC personnel and parents was considered a central issue in guaranteeing the quality of the children’s experience and ECEC services were found to be an important resource of social support to parents. Since the beginning of ECEC experience in Italy, both educational practices and research have paid a particular attention to peer interaction inside the services, with a specific focus to the effect of contextual variables on their frequency and quality. Another major research theme was the evaluation of ECEC quality. In Italian experiences, evaluating ECEC quality was considered a dynamic and continuous process, involving a plurality of stakeholders (decision-makers, managers, ECEC personnel and parents) and was aimed at analysing, discussing, and improving the educational practice.

Résumé

Cet article présente un aperçu des services à la petite enfance en Italie, leur développement et leur culture éducative. En Italie, l’accueil extra-domestique des enfants de moins de 3 ans est devenu un phénomène quantitativement important au cours des trente dernières années. Son développement a été caractérisé par l’étroite collaboration entre centres de recherche et services d’accueil. Cette collaboration a produit une riche variété d’études sur l’éducation des jeunes enfants, dont certains thèmes semblent particulièrement intéressants pour la pratique éducative. La relation entre le personnel et les parents a été considérée comme un élément essentiel pour assurer la qualité de l’expérience des enfants. Les services se sont révélés être une ressource importante pour le soutien social des parents. Dès le début de l’expérience en petite enfance en Italie, tant la recherche que les pratiques éducatives ont accordé une grande attention aux interactions entre pairs à l’intérieur des services, avec une centration particulière sur les effets des variables contextuelles sur leur fréquence et leur qualité. L’évaluation de la qualité des services à la petite enfance constitue un autre thème majeur de recherche. Dans les expériences italiennes, l’évaluation est considérée comme un processus dynamique et continue, impliquant une pluralité d’intervenants (décideurs, gestionnaires, personnel de la petite enfance et parents) et ayant pour but l’analyse, la discussion et l’amélioration des pratiques éducatives.

Resumen

Este artículo ofrece una información general de los servicios de infancia preescolar italiana, su desarrollo y la cultura educativa. En Italia, guardería fuera del hogar durante el día para niños menores de 3 años se he convirtió en un fenómeno cuantitativamente significativo en los últimos treinta años. Este desarrollo se caracterizó por la cercana colaboración entre las agencias de investigación y los servicios de la infancia preescolar. Se produjo una gran variedad de estudios sobre la educación temprana. Algunos temas parecen particularmente pertinentes con respecto a sus implicaciones a la práctica educativa. La relación entre el personal de los servicios preescolar y los padres se consideró un tema central en la garantía de la calidad de la experiencia de los niños, y los servicios preescolares se consideraron un importante recurso de apoyo social a los padres. Desde el comienzo de la experiencia preescolar en Italia, tanto en las prácticas educativas como las de investigación han prestado especial atención a la interacción entre los niños en los servicios, con especial atención al efecto de variables contextuales en su frecuencia y calidad. Otro tema importante de investigación fue la evaluación de la calidad de los servicios preescolares. En la experiencia italiana, la evaluación de la calidad de los servicios preescolar se consideró un proceso dinámico y continuo, con la participación de una pluralidad de actores (directivos, gerentes, personal de los servicios preescolar y los padres) y tuvo como objetivo analizar, discutir y mejorar la práctica educativa.

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  1. Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies, National Research Council (CNR), Via Nomentana, 56, 00161, Rome, Italy

    Tullia Musatti & Mariacristina Picchio

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  1. Tullia Musatti
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  2. Mariacristina Picchio
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Correspondence to Tullia Musatti or Mariacristina Picchio.

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Musatti, T., Picchio, M. Early Education in Italy: Research and Practice. IJEC 42, 141–153 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13158-010-0011-9

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