Abstract:

Discussing an early childhood educator as a reflective practitioner is not visible only in reflecting and planning everyday work within the group, but with taking into account the holistic view on the child's individual needs that ultimately has a great impact in developing a pedagogical relationship within the prepared environment that gives each child the right to competently participate. Children's' participation has been a focus of multiple research in the recent decades, originated from the paradigm of achieving children's rights and building a society in which a child can understand the importance of responsible and autonomous behaviour from its early age. In regards to the self-determination theory, autonomy, competence and relatedness of an individual are now seen as a result of behaviour that is intrinsically motivated and emphasises the importance of social-emotional development. The activity of free play opens a number of opportunities within the early childhood institution as it enables a child to plan, elaborate and define its role within their group and the community that eventually leads up to establishing a role of competent individual that participates in the activities of negotiating, developing and creating a shared culture within the institution. When discussing the educators' role in this process – it is evident that now their professional work requires flexibility and continuous reflecting on their own educational and personal paradigms as to be an important part of the quality educational process. This paper will discuss the guidelines of educators professional work and recent deliberations in regards to children's participation as one of the key components for empowering young individuals from their early age to participate responsibly in the democratic society, in regards to the changes undergoing in the early childhood and educational system in Croatia, that is set on the notion of partnership and relationship between the child and the practitioner, as stated in the National Curriculum values and goals.

Keywords:

Early childhood, reflective practitioner, Croatian educational system, autonomy in early childhood, child participation.