WHEN CHILDREN PARTICIPATE: CHILDREN'S AGENCY IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF PEDAGOGICAL PROJECTS

Abstract

This article addresses children’s protagonism in Early Childhood Education, focusing on children’s participation in the construction of pedagogical projects. It is based on the understanding that children are active subjects, capable of expressing interests, curiosities, questions, hypotheses, and discoveries that can contribute to the planning of educational experiences. The study aims to analyze how pedagogical projects can foster this participation, considering children’s voices and the teacher’s role in this process. This is a bibliographic study that draws on educational guidelines for Early Childhood Education and studies addressing childhood, participation, protagonism, and pedagogical projects. The reflections indicate that a project does not necessarily promote children’s protagonism simply by addressing topics of interest to them. For participation to be effective, children’s expressions need to influence the paths of the investigation and lead to changes in planning. In this context, the teacher maintains pedagogical intentionality while also observing, listening, mediating, and reorganizing experiences based on what children present. It is concluded that projects constructed with children can expand opportunities for participation, investigation, and learning, contributing to an Early Childhood Education that recognizes children as active subjects in everyday educational experiences.