BETWEEN CARING, EDUCATING, AND WELCOMING: CHALLENGES OF TEACHING IN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION IN LIGHT OF CHILDREN’S FAMILY AND EMOTIONAL EXPERIENCES

Abstract

This article discusses the challenges of teaching in Early Childhood Education when family and emotional experiences cross children's daily lives and become visible in the school environment. It adopts the contemporary conception of the child as a historical, social and rights-bearing subject whose development takes place through relationships with family, school, peers and cultural contexts. The central question is how the pedagogue-teacher can perform an educational role when facing situations involving limited parental availability, difficulties in building boundaries, conflicts in social interaction, offensive language, emotional self-regulation difficulties and other experiences that affect school life. Methodologically, this is a qualitative, bibliographic and documentary study based on official Early Childhood Education documents, scientific articles and master's dissertations retrieved from academic databases and institutional repositories. The discussion indicates that schools should neither replace families nor simplistically blame them for children's behavior. Teachers are expected to observe, welcome, mediate, intentionally plan experiences of interaction and learning, document relevant situations and establish dialogue with families and the school team. The study concludes that teaching young children requires professional preparation combining pedagogical knowledge, sensitive listening, affectivity, boundaries, ethics and shared responsibility between school and family while preserving the specific educational role of the teacher.