Research-training in early childhood education: university extension, collaboration, and professional development at CEI Coração de Maria

Abstract

This article analyzes the research-training experience developed with teachers and management staff at CEI Coração de Maria, as part of the extension project “Research and Intervention in Basic Education: Science, Democracy, and Sustainability.” The objective was to understand how research-training, from a collaborative perspective, contributes to the shared production of knowledge, the strengthening of teaching professionalism, and the construction of collective authorship. The methodology was based on research-training, with dialogical meetings, reading and problematization of texts, discussion of institutional practices, and audio recording with subsequent full transcription. The analysis linked excerpts from the participants' statements to the theoretical references of Freire; Desgagné e Larouche; Barbier; Desgagné e Bioto e Theodossiou. The results show the emergence of critical reflection on everyday life, the articulation between experiential knowledge and theoretical references, the reframing of care as the epistemological core of Early Childhood Education, and the repositioning of teachers as co-authors of the investigative process. It is concluded that university extension, guided by dialogic communication, constitutes a powerful space for formative and epistemological transformation.