“Whoever speaks will sit on the cold ground!”

coression, communion and freedom in Early Childhood Education

Abstract

This work aims to discuss the relationship between adults and children in institutional spaces, as well as to think about the challenge of teacher training that respects children as subjects. As a methodology, events were analyzed, described in two theses and three dissertations, within the scope of a research group that has Early Childhood Education as one of its main axes. These five works had the observation of everyday life in daycare centers and preschools as a methodological strategy, allowing reflections on the quality of relationships between adults and children, in line with the work of Martin Buber. This author, known as a philosopher of dialogue, understands the human being in the relationship with the other, with the world, with its historical context. The analyzes point to practices of coercion and authoritarianism, with little opportunity for children to express themselves. The text presents training as an ethical way to break automatism and the repetition of stuck practices. This training should include the teaching stories and experiences, ensuring spaces for dialogue, in order to make the teacher responsible and responsive, capable of establishing dialogic relationships with the children.