Educational policies for early childhood education and school management in border contexts: contemporary challenges for the recognition of diversity

Abstract

Border contexts constitute singular territories, marked by mobility, cultural diversity, and multiple forms of belonging, which impose specific challenges on school management in Early Childhood Education and on the recognition of the plural childhoods that inhabit them. The aim of this study is to analyze the challenges faced by school management in the implementation of educational policies for Early Childhood Education in border contexts, understanding such management as a space for the production of meanings and for the recognition, or denial, of plural childhoods. To this end, a theoretical-analytical essay approach is adopted, grounded in contributions from the Sociology of Childhood and the field of educational policies, articulated with the analysis of normative documents for Early Childhood Education in Brazil. It is argued that educational policies formulated in a homogeneous manner tend to overlook the particularities of border contexts, posing significant challenges to management practices. In this scenario, school management assumes a central role in translating policies, organizing institutional daily life, and shaping conditions that enable or restrict children's participation. The study highlights that approaching school management from the perspective of childhoods and territories broadens the debate on social and educational justice, by acknowledging the complexity of border contexts and the plurality of children's experiences. It concludes that recognizing local specificities is essential for the development of more sensitive, democratic, and rights-based educational policies.