Conference Program

In the Italian educational landscape, early childhood education has developed through specific institutional and pedagogical trajectories. What is today known as Scuola dell’Infanzia, serving children aged three to six, was formally established in 1968 and pedagogically redefined through the Orientamenti per la scuola dell’infanzia (1991). Initially aimed at social and family support, particularly to enable women’s labour participation, it gradually shifted toward a child-centred approach emphasizing agency, relational learning, play, and multiple symbolic languages (Malaguzzi, 1995). This orientation resonates with international perspectives on active, participatory learning and curriculum as a relational process emerging from interactions among children, adults, and contexts (Clark, 2017; Luini, 2025).

Over the past decade, governance and the conceptual framework of early childhood education in Italy have undergone significant reconfiguration. The establishment of the Sistema Integrato 0-6 introduced a systemic perspective connecting early childhood services and preschool education. Subsequent national curricular and policy developments have reshaped discourse surrounding early childhood education, reopening the debate on preschool identity within a broader educational continuum and on the relationship between consolidated pedagogical traditions and evolving policy frameworks (Silva, 2018). Comparative curriculum research has shown how early childhood curricula often become “sites of struggle” where different visions of childhood, learning, and educational purposes confront each other (Soler & Miller, 2003).

This contribution presents outcomes of a practitioner-based action research project conducted by a group of preschool teachers who collaboratively engaged in critical documentary analysis of national policy texts regulating early childhood education. The inquiry aimed to reinterpret the evolving identity of preschool education within the integrated 0–6 system and a developmental curriculum spanning 0 to 19 years (Cerini, 2018). Through collegial discussion, the research group identified five analytical categories: (1) the centrality of the child and the educational purposes of preschool education; (2) the implicit curriculum and learning environment; (3) the explicit curriculum and its articulation through the campi di esperienza; (4) vertical and horizontal continuity across educational transitions; and (5) teacher professionalism and reflective practice.

The analysis revealed both continuity and shifts. Core principles persist, while recent policies increasingly emphasize organisational and systemic dimensions. Preschool identity emerges as relational and collectively constructed through practices, institutional frameworks, and policy developments (Bocci, 2025; Bruzzo, 2025). The research is framed within a difference-oriented perspective on inclusive education (Demo, 2025) and a broad conception of inclusion as expanding participation and learning for all children (Booth & Ainscow, 2008), treating diversity as a resource for shared learning and democratic engagement.

The study demonstrates that curriculum discourses influence children’s participation, recognition of differences, and sense of democratic belonging. By combining documentary analysis with practitioner inquiry, it argues that redefining preschool identity is not only a technical policy matter but also a cultural and political issue concerning early childhood’s role in democratic society. The analytical framework developed serves as a reflective tool for collaborative practitioner inquiry, supporting critical examination of curriculum discourses and their implications for inclusive, participatory, child-responsive educational practices. The project later extended its analysis to policy texts incorporated into the 2025 Indicazioni Nazionali.