Profile

The Human Development and Society research group (HDS) studies the relationships between  young children’s cognitive development and socialization  at home and within educational centers. We explore three main themes:

1. 
   Cognitive and social processes in the first years of life. The micro-analysis of children’s activities and behavior within early educational settings where a same group of children meet daily highlights the relationship between the cognitive and social aspects in the process of cognitive construction and its evolution over time.


2. 
   The analysis and evaluation of early educational centers. Since many years HDS group has been involved in research-intervention projects in cooperation with local governments. We elaborated a system of participatory evaluation aimed to both the improvement of educational practices and the assessment of  compliance with regulations and standards.


3. 
   The analysis of changes in families’ life  with concern to young children’s care and education . This analysis highlights the complex relations among modernization processes in our society and parents’ needs of social support.

Our research activities have relevant implications on the innovation of early childhood and families policies and often involve actions of knowledge transfer and training of practitioners in early education.

People

Coordinator

Tullia

Musatti

Researcher

Researchers

Isabella

Di Giandomenico

Researcher

Susanna

Mayer

Researcher

Mariacristina

Picchio

Researcher

Publications

Projects