Fathers in contemporary ECEC settings. A pedagogical reflection

This presentation focuses on the figure of fathers as significant adults for children. The twentieth century is characterized by important changes in the socio-cultural context in which children develop. An increased presence of immigrant families and mixed couples, and a greater involvement of fathers in the lives of children (Cabrera et al., 2000) regard the family structure, but also the educational services. These aspects – together with the recent reconsideration of the attachment theory through cultural lenses (Levine & Norman, 2001), and an increased theoretical emphasis on the paternal role (Lamb, 2010) - open a widespread reflection on the teachers and parents’ implicit and culturally defined models of adult-child interaction (Stern, 1994). On the one hand, there are more women in early childhood services, and a diffuse lack of male models influences and is influenced by specific gender representations associated to specific a concept of care (Nardone, 2014). On the other hand, the progresses in human sciences, the research on the family systems, the social and cultural construction of fatherhood (eg. Lamb, 1997; Kounesky & Erickson, 1998) and socio-cultural changes are bringing families and institutions to deal with new representations of education and care, reconsidering the role of women and men of different cultures in children’s development and education. Many psychological studies revealed significant differences between maternal and paternal styles of interaction; at the same time, anthropological research highlighted specific cultural models of being with children, but few studies have still explored these dimensions from a pedagogical point of view. This presentation stresses the need to develop a pedagogical reflection and new methods of research for involving parents and teachers of ECEC settings in experiences of observation, reflection, de-automatization of their behaviors, in order to put in dialogue their implicit, different and complementary models of care, education and relationship with children.