Teaching practices with infants in daycare: knowledge, challenges, and the formation of professional teaching identity

Abstract

Early Childhood Education constitutes a relevant space for learning and development of children, understood as integral subjects who relate to the world through their bodies, concrete experiences, social interactions, and multiple languages. In the context of daycare, which serves children from 0 to 3 years old, care, interactions, the organization of spaces, and the actions of professionals must be planned in a way that contemplates the individual needs specific to this stage. This highlights the need to rethink pedagogical practices and approaches that consider the specificities of teaching with babies and very young children. Based on the concerns arising from this context, this article aims to recognize the specificities of teaching with babies, emphasizing the knowledge and challenges faced by teachers in the daycare context, investigating how these experiences contribute to the constitution of the professional identity of teachers in Early Childhood Education. This qualitative research was conducted with 46 teachers of infants working in Early Childhood Education. Data collection occurred through online questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. Content Analysis (Bardin, 2016) was chosen for data categorization and analysis. The conclusion is that teaching with infants needs to be theoretically grounded, consistent, and reflective, without disregarding the relationships of affection and care, essential both to child development and to the formation of teacher identity. Therefore, it becomes fundamental to reflect on the organization of an educational environment intentionally planned to welcome infants, who begin to experience daily relationships in an educational context that extends beyond the family sphere.