Early childhood and city: neighborhood pedagogical walks as a transformative practice

Abstract

This contribution presents the first results of a qualitative study conducted with a group of students of the bachelor’s degree Programme in Educational Sciences at UNISOB, aimed at exploring the relationship between early childhood and city. Drawing on a pedagogical perspective that recognizes children as citizens from early childhood, the study critically examines adult representations of this relationship – which often tend to situate children’s civic identity in a predominantly future-oriented dimension – through an immersive and reflective process. In particular, the article analyses students’ representations of the relationship between children and urban space in Naples, showing that prevalent narratives inscribe childhood within a
semantic framework of naivety and carefree innocence, thereby marginalizing its political dimension.