TEACHER MEDIATION AND LITERACY IN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION: MEANING-MAKING IN CHILDREN AGED 0 TO 5 YEARS

Abstract

Early Childhood Education constitutes a fundamental space for children’s first experiences of social interaction, language, and meaning-making. In this context, literacy goes beyond the technical dimension of alphabetization and is understood as a cultural, social, and interactive practice developed through the relationships established among the child, the teacher, and the educational environment. This study aims to understand how teacher mediation contributes to the development of literacy and the construction of meaning in children aged 0 to 5 years. The research is grounded in the historical-cultural perspective, adopting a qualitative, bibliographic, and exploratory approach based on the analysis of books, scientific articles, and normative documents. The theoretical framework draws on authors such as Vygotsky, Paulo Freire, Magda Soares, Ferreiro, and Teberosky, in addition to contemporary studies on reading and writing in early childhood. The findings show that intentional pedagogical mediation fosters meaningful experiences of reading, orality, listening, imagination, and expression, enabling children to appropriate the social practices of language even before mastering conventional writing. It is observed that educational environments rich in multiple languages, interactions, and dialogical practices contribute to children’s cognitive, social, and cultural development, strengthening their protagonism in the learning process. It is concluded that humanized, sensitive, and contextualized teaching practices are essential for the formation of critical, autonomous, and participatory readers from the earliest school years.