The right of young children to well-being: a case study of a creche in Portugal

The monitoring and evaluation of the quality of educational processes and of child and adult learning are key procedures for a praxeological investigation which supports the constitution of an educational context characterised by the right to professional development of all adults who are directly or indirectly involved with the children. These are the principles of Pedagogy-in-Participation, the perspective of the Childhood Association, which is adopted by the Olivais Sul Early Childhood Centre in Lisbon, Portugal. Focusing on six activity rooms of the creche, this case study aimed to investigate the educational practices with children under three-years-old, drawing attention to factors such as the well-being of the children, the education ideology of the pedagogical approach and the educational environment. The main point of the article is the notion that an explicit pedagogy prompts reflection prior to, during and after the action. Thus, the action is constituted as praxis.