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GENERAL PEDAGOGY AND CHILDHOOD EDUCATION WITH LABORATORY M - Z
Module GENERAL PEDAGOGY AND CHILDHOOD EDUCATION

Academic Year 2024/2025 - Teacher: GABRIELLA D'APRILE

Expected Learning Outcomes

The goal of the course is to provide students with knowledge of the salient and emerging themes of contemporary pedagogical debate in order to develop critical and reflective thinking for the implications on the professional side of educational action. Theoretical models and educational practices will be examined, with a focus on cultural models of education and childhood education and care. The General and Childhood Pedagogy course also aims to provide students with the ability to critically reflect on the following topics: professionalism in childood education (0-3) in support of parents and families; and the most recent national guidelines for early childhood education services. Particular emphasis will be placed on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and Adolescent, the Optional Protocols associated with it, the diverse reports concerning the state of children and adolescents in Italy.

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. 

Course Structure

Active learning modes will be prioritized in teaching activities, with face-to-face lectures alternated with collaborative group activities, collective discussions and comparisons, exercises, and formative assessment activitie

Required Prerequisites

There are no specific requirements.

Detailed Course Content

Topics include theoretical-foundational and epistemological-methodological issues in general education and childhood pedagogy, as well as the major educational theoretical models, with a focus on childhood and childhood care services. Some central categories will be investigated (play, growth, development, learning, care, curricula and planning, space and time, intentionality, relationships, and the educational ecosystem), with special emphasis on the recent pedagogical debate. The course will also provide an in-depth look at some scholars and educational activists (Adolphe Ferrière, Giuseppe Lombardo Radice, Don Lorenzo Milani, Mario Lodi, Celestin Freinet). Finally, the following will be thoroughly researched: Recent legislative orientations in the context of the integrated 0-6 system (Law 107/2015 and Legislative Decree 65/2017); the role and functions of educational professionalism in childcare services



Learning Assessment

Learning Assessment Procedures

The grade expressed in 30/30 will be used to assess learning, taking into account knowledge related to the proposed contents, level of in-depth study, appropriateness of technical-specialist language, clarity and efficacy of exposition, and critical-argumentative capacity. During the lessons, formative assessment tests may be scheduled. Furthermore, it should be noted that the student can only take the exam after attending the workshop and taking the relative assessment test.  The workshop is an essential component of the course. The integrated course's final grade is unique and is recorded by lecturers from the teaching commission at the same time as the exam.

Examples of frequently asked questions and / or exercises

Pedagogy between science and utopia; The paradigm of pedagogical problematism; Pedagogy as a science of education; Characters and actors in an integrated educational system Spaces and times in child-care services 0-6: curricula for children 0-6; the 'century of the child' Giuseppe Lombardo Radice's contribution to childhood education; Adolphe Ferrière and the New Education; the active school.