GENERAL PEDAGOGY AND CHILDHOOD EDUCATION WITH LABORATORY M - Z

Module GENERAL PEDAGOGY AND CHILDHOOD EDUCATION

The following are the expected learning objectives, as determined by the Dublin descriptors.

Knowledge and understanding (DD1)

• knowledge of theoretical models and methodological approaches in general and childhood education; 
• ability to identify major emerging educational issues; 
• knowledge of pedagogical knowledge theories and models for interpreting educational and training events from a historical perspective;
• knowledge of the fundamental themes of general and childhood pedagogy by identifying them in references to educational practice and institutional documents
• ability to use pedagogical knowledge-specific disciplinary language

Applying knowledge and understanding (DD2)

• To connect theoretical and methodological contents in order to interpret events and processes in the past, present, and future;
• The ability to observe and interpret the contexts of childhood educational life from a pedagogical standpoint; 
• Capability to design educational experiences for children aged 0 to 6 years old using knowledge and concepts.

Making judgments (DD3)

• Being able to synthesize various approaches in educational and training theories;
•  Being able to read, understand, and critically select texts and documents in the pedagogical area and relate them to educational contexts;
• Participation in training activities that enhance the role of the "student as researcher" in order to develop critical and judgment skills.  

Communication skills (DD4)

• The capacity to communicate the findings of one's research using a technical and specialized lexicon. 
• The ability to identify and implement educational objectives within specific contexts and circumstances;

Learning ability (DD5)

• Capability to study the provided texts and teaching materials independently;
• Personal and critical ability to rework acquired concepts
• The ability to learn to learn and change habitual learning styles. 
• Capability to promote self-assessment of one's own learning with the goal of developing professional action. 

The course aims to address, from a broad and critical perspective, the theoretical-foundational and epistemological-methodological issues of general pedagogy and childhood pedagogy. Starting from the recognition of pedagogy as the science of education, the course will investigate the assumptions that ground its disciplinary autonomy, highlighting both the conceptual dimensions and the operational implications for the understanding and interpretation of educational processes.

Particular attention will be devoted to the main theoretical models of education, analyzed in their historical evolution and in their most recent developments. These models will be considered in their applicability to the world of childhood and, more specifically, to the field of educational services and the professional roles that revolve around the care and accompaniment of children in their early years of life.

Through a historical-pedagogical perspective, some central categories and constructs of pedagogical discourse will be examined and reinterpreted in their professionalizing component. Topics such as play, growth and development, learning processes, practices of care, the construction of curricula and educational planning, the organization of spaces and times, pedagogical intentionality, interpersonal relationships, and the configuration of the educational ecosystem will be systematically addressed, with particular attention to the contemporary pedagogical debate on services for the 0–3 age group.

To complete the pathway, the course also includes thematic insights and the exploration of innovative perspectives that currently characterize pedagogical reflection on childhood. In this direction, eco-narratives will be considered as an interpretative and narrative key to education, capable of connecting ecological dimensions and formative processes. Furthermore, the principles and pedagogical implications of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child will be analyzed, with specific reference to their impact on the design and organization of educational services. Finally, attention will be given to the main trends in contemporary educational research on childhood, highlighting their educational declinations in laboratory-based contexts.