The child, city and heritage in the construction of the curriculum and teacher training in early childhood education

Abstract

The article presents the project “The Child, City and Heritage: practices and knowledge about the communities of Penedo and Évora” carried out in the municipality of Penedo, AL, from 2018 to early 2020. It exhibits the premises of the project, its initial idea, the stages carried out, the methodologies used, highlighting some contributions to reflect on the curriculum of early childhood education and the training of its professionals. An important facet of the project is that in both cities, Penedo and Évora, the existing cultural references should be recognized and valued as essential resources for educating children, for training the professionals and shaping the curriculum, as well as for interactions and dialogues with families and communities at large. The research and actions carried out within the scope of this project provide clues as to how children, early childhood education and its curriculum can dialogue with cultural heritage, recognizing it, valuing it and enhancing the experience of children in their territories so as to strengthen the sense of identity and belonging to the city.