Agreements and disagreements between children and adults in early childhood education: an analysis based on Martin Buber

This paper presents research focused on children and adults interactions in crèches and preschools, identifying similarities and contrasts. The theoretical framework is based on Martin Buber´s philosophy of dialogue and the methodology is based on Sociology of Childhood, specially Corsaro and Ferreira, and their contributions to comprehend the interactions between children and adults in the seven Early Childhood institutions. The crèches present (i) positive aspects (listening to the children, dialogical relationship, presence of the other; respect for the children; adult responsibility and concern for quality) and (ii) ambiguities (repetitive practice, intention to instruct. The pre-schools evidence: (i) positive aspects (creative activities and dialogue); and (ii) negative aspects (invisibility of the child, instructional activities without favoring child expression; humiliation, constraint and anonymity of the children).