Situated Professional Development for ECEC: The MoMAg Experience

Abstract This paper presents the design, implementation, and findings of a situated professional development programme—MoMAg—developed to enhance teacher empowerment in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) within disadvantaged urban contexts. Conducted in preschools in the Barriera di Milano district of Turin, the programme integrates Italy’s pedagogical heritage—Montessori, Agazzi, and Malaguzzi—with contemporary research on cognition and learning. Grounded in participatory and context-sensitive methodologies, MoMAg engaged 23 teachers in laboratorybased training, collaborative environment design, job shadowing, and reflective practice. Qualitative data from focus groups, observations, and documentation indicate significant changes in teachers’ awareness of sensorial processes, renewed attention to the educational environment, and the emergence of a shared professional lexicon. Challenges included reconciling guided instruction with play-based pedagogy and limited institutional time for reflection. Findings suggest that sustainable professional development in ECEC requires embedding learning within real contexts, fostering collective reflection, and valuing local pedagogical traditions as resources for innovation. The study contributes to the international debate on teacher empowerment and offers an empirically grounded framework for professional development that bridges pedagogical heritage and evidence-informed practice.