ABSTRACT
This article seeks to highlight the Italian situation concerning a particular pedagogical early childhood approach by describing an intercultural project7 7 ‘Centro Shi Shu Bhavan’ which means ‘House of the Child’ in Bengali, an early education centre for children with immigrant and Romany background. that was planned, implemented, monitored and supported from a social pedagogical perspective over the course of twenty years in Rome8 8 The project originated from the work of the social cooperative ASAL (Associations of Latin American Studies) at the beginning of the 1990s and from 2000 onwards was managed by the non-profit association ‘Zero in Condotta’ which I founded. The project closed on 31 December 2016 when the City Council of Rome stopped financing it despite endless but ineffective protests by parents, operators and some other similar centres active in the territory of Rome. A child attending the centre actually cost the City Council less that the attendance at a public preschool or nursery would cost and the services offered within the ambit of the centre were much more diversified and integrated. But the project came under the aegis of the social services which were unable to negotiate an agreement with the educational services and the City Mayor that would have allowed to continue operating the centre. . The principle concepts on which the project was based are that of the ‘potential space’ (Winnicott 1971, 1989) applied to intercultural pedagogy and that of support for parenting skills. In view of current educational policies in Italy9 9 Law No. 65 of 13 April 2017 on Childhood Education for the years 0-6. some forms of practice which were developed in the course of this project, thanks to the constant pedagogical support and consultancy it received, can be extrapolated in order to promote a pedagogical dimension that appreciates and welcomes diversity and helps educational institutions, including those of early childhood education, to become democratic environments that promote equality among children.
Keywords:
Intercultural pedagogy; Early childhood education; Potential space; Migration; Incubator of continuity; Social integration.