The child who asks and the teacher who answers: the construction of non-medicalizing pedagogical practices in daycare

Abstract

Medicalization in Early Childhood Education refers to the process of interpreting children's behaviors and singularities as signs of possible disorders, often leading to the anticipation of diagnoses and the search for interventions that do not always consider the complexity of child development. In daycare centers, which serve children between 0 and 3 years old, teachers’ concerns about differences in learning rhythms and styles may be influenced by medicalizing discourses, shaping pedagogical practices. This article presents part of a larger research study conducted by one of the authors and analyzes the impacts of this phenomenon on teaching, problematizing how ways of looking at and narrating children affect educational practices. Based on theoretical references and teacher narratives, the discussion highlights the importance of collective perspectives, attentive listening, and care in building pedagogical practices that move away from normative and pathologizing reductions. It is concluded that teaching in daycare centers can be strengthened through reflection on pedagogical practices and a commitment to education that respects the singularities of childhood. By recognizing childhood as a unique period in which each child develops at their own pace, teaching becomes a space for acceptance, experimentation, and the construction of meaning.