« Je me sens comme une équilibriste » : la variété des rôles des professionnelles dans les Centri per i Bambini e le Famiglie, en Italie

The aim of this article is to describe the role of the educators in the centers for young children and their families in Italy, using the observations and the interviews conducted in a sample of 40 centres during the research Insieme (AA.VV., 2014). We will describe the variety of behaviors and representations, while give evidence of some regularities: a style based on the observation, parental support with few interventions, a warm and welcoming approach aimed at offering to parents and children a pleasant time with the others. Emergent is the need of ensuring continuing professional development to enrich the socio-educational potentialities of these contexts in contemporary societies