1* Doctoral student in Doctorado en
Educación y Estudios Sociales del Tecnológico de Antioquia IU,
lgarciab@tdea.edu.co .
ORCID:
0000-0003-2166-2014.
Tecnológico de Antioquia Medellín, Colombia.
2*Doctor in Education, psychology
professor in Tecnológico de Antioquia IU,
annie.alvarez@tdea.edu.co .
ORCID:
0000-0002-9432-8554.
Tecnológico de Antioquia Medellín, Colombia.
3*Doctoral student in Doctorado en
Educación y Estudios Sociales del Tecnológico de Antioquia IU,
carlos.perez77@tdea.edu.co .
ORCID:
0000-0003-0645-5973.
Tecnológico de Antioquia Medellín, Colombia.
4*Doctor in Education, Vice-Rector of
Tecnológico de Antioquia IU,
vice.academica@tdea.edu.co .
ORCID:
0000-0003-1074-1673.
Tecnológico de Antioquia Medellín, Colombia..
How to cite: García-Botero, L. Alvarez-Maestre, A.J, Pérez-Fuentes, C.A, Aguilar-Barreto, A.J. (2022). “Parenting practices in early childhood as technologies of power in family and educational contexts.”. Perspectivas, vol. 7, no. 2, pp. 26-37, 2022.
©Peer review is the responsibility of the Universidad Francisco de Paula Santander. This is an article under the license CC BY-NC 4.0
Received: January 25, 2022
Approved: May 7, 2022.
Keywords
Early Childhood, Parenting Practices, Poststructuralist, Power Relations.
Abstract
This research with a post-structuralist epistemological approach and qualitative methodology had the objective of revealing the conditions that make it possible for the parenting practices of caregivers of early childhood children in family and educational contexts to be configured as technologies of power (procedures through which power relations are socially legitimized). Likewise, it was proposed to demonstrate the self-care practices of children configured as technologies of the self. The results made it possible to identify current parenting practices where discipline practices are still evident in both contexts. It is concluded that power relations arise in the middle of a relational triad school - family - childhood, in an apparently functional gear, thus, children are influenced by the processes of both entities and begin to witness how the family has become Foucault's terms in an "institution". Part of the practices carried out by adults are incorporated by children and become self-care practices that, according to the analysis obtained, are part of a powerful formation of technologies of the self, however, not so well achieved. at this age, but a strong constitution is expected in the next stages of the life cycle.
Palabras claves
Postestructuralista, Prácticas de Crianza, Primera Infancia, Relaciones de Poder.
Resumen
Esta investigación de enfoque epistemológico post estructuralista y metodología cualitativa tuvo como objetivo, develar las condiciones que hacen posible que las prácticas de crianza de los cuidadores de niños de primera infancia en los contextos familiar y educativo se configuren como tecnologías de poder (procedimientos mediante los cuales socialmente se legitiman relaciones de poder). Así mismo, se propuso evidenciar las prácticas de auto cuidado de los niños configuradas como tecnologías del yo. Los resultados permitieron identificar prácticas vigentes en la crianza donde aún se evidencian prácticas de disciplinamiento en ambos contextos. Se concluye que, las relaciones de poder surgen en medio de una triada relacional escuela – familia – infancia, en un engranaje aparentemente funcional, así, niños son influenciados por los procesos de ambos entes y se empieza a presenciar como la familia se ha convertido en términos de Foucault en una “institución”. Parte de las prácticas ejecutadas por los adultos son incorporadas por los niños y niñas y se convierten en prácticas de auto cuidado que, según el análisis logrado, estas si hacen parte de una potente formación de tecnologías del yo, sin embargo, no tan bien logradas en esta edad, pero si se espera una constitución fuerte en las próximas etapas del ciclo vital.
Introduction
Currently, there are many actions aimed at comprehensive care that seek to increase the quality of life of children around the world, based on the hypothesis that, by working for today's children, progress is guaranteed of each country and the life in society of said beneficiaries is facilitated. Thus, recognizing that the family is where the process of guaranteeing rights and socialization with the world begins, it is essential to carry out investigations in favor of all the processes that are evidenced within them, since children even in their early years are surrounded by attentions, behaviors, concepts, and practices that strengthen their development or, on the contrary, may impair it, as the case may be (Restrepo-Segura, & García-Peña, 2021).
This research focuses on those practices used for the training of children by some of their significant adults. By identifying certain practices that improve the development process, the efforts made by the state to guarantee integral development will be increased, in this way, a contribution from this research will be related to those significant actions that favor the attempts and plans of the state and the co-responsible for childhood, including parents and caregivers.
A key objective in the results of this research is to analyze parenting practices from the Foucaultian perspective as power relations; The understanding of the primary and secondary socialization scenarios in the family setting and the educational setting as spaces that generate power relations and legitimize said practices is a novel vision, taking into account that the contributions of the postmodernist theorist were always maintained in institutions but not directly approximate to the first years of life of human beings.
In this order of ideas, three analytical categories are determined: first, parenting practices that refer to the actions that people carry out in favor of the development of children in the form of intentional and regulated actions (Aguirre-Dávila & Morales-Castillo, 2022; Aguirre-Dávila et al., 2021). The second category, power relations, conceptualized by Foucault (2003) as objective capacities, communication and behavior relations that configure the actions of free subjects. The third category determined as the technologies of the self, are defined as operations on the body and soul of the subject himself, in search of the transformation of themselves and of happiness that begins on their own or with the help of others (Foucault, 2016).
In summary, this research, supported by the search for symbolisms and representations within the family nucleus and the work of educational agents around children, sustains a fundamental value paying great attention to discourse and practice in the historical context in which they appeared and occurred. they produced effects of knowledge, truth, and power; From the beginning, it was conceived as an investigative hypothesis that parenting practices are configured as power relations and, likewise, these practices generate self-care practices in boys and girls that can become technologies of the self.
Methodology
The methodological approach of this research considered appropriate and closer to its interests, the inclusion of the interpretive view from the position of critical hermeneutics as an epistemological approach. Critical hermeneutics is considered a hermeneutic of suspicion, of the interpretation of hidden links, and is even inclusive, sharing and trying to complement other theories (Recas Bayón, 2007). In addition to expressing the totality about an event, it deals with making visible what the granting of meaning hides, conceals or distorts, being an implication of the dynamics of language, coercive forms of power or dominance. The critical hermeneutical approach proposed implies giving important value to the interpretation of the problematized experiences (Habermas, 2019, 2018).
In conjunction with the objectives and expectations of this research, it was convenient to use a qualitative methodology and as one of the main reasons it is found that qualitative research responds to the interests of this research, since a relevant way of approaching the execution of parenting practices by parents and the discourses that support them is favorable from the use of interviews, observations of the environment, content or discourse analysis, or others. According to Sandoval Casillimas (2011), it was decided for the present investigation the moments of the qualitative model that he calls common for almost all research studies, among them, the moments of formulation, design, and management. Hereafter, the description of the design and management moment is provided.
This research was of immediate interest on the power relations between caregivers - children in family and educational contexts in the municipality of San José de Cúcuta (unit of analysis). The categories to be considered empirically within the unit of analysis correspond to all those behaviors generated by parents and caregivers of children in relation to their development and training process; Likewise, he paid attention to power relations, the conditions that configure them and those actions that children may be executing as authors of their own destiny in favor of self-care.
In terms of the work unit, 4 boys and 2 girls were selected as participating subjects, randomly selected from 180 children attending an institution for comprehensive early childhood care; the program benefits children in early childhood from 2 years and 8 months to 5 years belonging to socioeconomic strata 1 and 2 according to SISBEN. Likewise, the significant adults of the children were involved in the work unit, in this case, 2 educational agents and the 6 adult guardians of the selected children, preferably mother or grandmother, depending on the case, who spends the most time with the children, to collect as much information as possible in the interview process.
In the same way, for the collection of the information, those techniques that easily and truthfully support the achievement of the objectives in a greater correspondence than any other technique were selected with caution. Considering that different age groups (children and adults) were handled, the information gathering techniques were determined based on this. For the group of adults, the semi-structured interview was used as interviews aimed at learning about events and activities that cannot be observed directly, where the participants are complete informants and describe in detail what happens (Taylor et al., 2015).
For the information gathering technique with the children, an instrument composed of images that make up comic strips was designed, with a projective intention; some of the images were taken from the projective test called the Düss Fables and adapted to research based on Foucault's theoretical construct on the technologies of the self and selfcare, for which a review of three key texts was made to identify possible characteristics of the construct: the government of oneself and others (Foucault, 2011), technologies of the self and other related texts (Foucault, 2016) and the hermeneutics of the subject (Foucault, 2005).
Each image responds to the aspects or behaviors that Foucault (Foucault, 2016) in his theoretical review in the three texts considers about technologies of the self and practices of self-care; projective images are presented to children with an opening question and in some cases carry a description of the situation for the child. Each situation as proposed must respond to the following aspects: 1. Selfknowledge or ability to self-evaluate, 2. Rules of conduct or behavior, 3. Ability to face the world or independence, 4. Self-government, 5. Caring for the other and 6. Physical care activities.
The methodological process is complemented by the analysis phase, in which the intensive analysis method is used in this research, through which a discovery process is carried out in progress, through the identification of themes and / or categories and the propositions that accompany them (data or incidents).
Results
Two decades ago, children in early childhood spent more time at home, accompanied by relatives, were in maternal care (if possible) and were superfluously instructed at home to prepare in some way for entering school. Currently, children spend most of their time in scholastic spaces outside the family context, which implies a greater involvement of relationships with the world, an opening at an early age to the social situation and this without including the ease of access to education world information from the media and new technological models. It is worth describing that some children already know how to write, read, and count before the age of 5, where this was previously seen after the age of 6 and counting on having quality academic instruction.
And although children today seem more independent and socially involved, the need to train adults depends on discipline practices. Well, it is essential to clarify this expression, since in fact not all actions carried out by adults are oriented to control, or are they? Well Foucault (2009) defines discipline as the mechanism of power that manages to control the social body, controls individuals, establishes their behaviors, guides and defines and uses surveillance, sanction and examination practices for their maintenance. To the above, if considers some of the actions of adults towards children, whether, in the family or at school, similarities will be found, but, in fact, a parent or teacher may claim that they must control their son or daughter because they do not know what is right or wrong and are at risk of getting hurt or falling into danger.
Applicable to all contexts, what an adult refers to about the need to care for children is true, even the laws and regulations established by the state give priority to children, especially in early childhood (de la Nación, 2006). But, what is behind this interest in well-being? What is behind the need to verify their behavior? What is hidden in the verbalizations of parents when they punish and submit or, on the contrary, when they reward and motivate appearance of behaviors? Likewise, there is the question about the coherence between what the state has raised regarding the training of younger citizens and the practices that are actually sustained in reality.
To open up a possible visibility of power relations between children and their adult caregivers, it is essential to focus on practices, hence Foucault (2003) uses the term "behavior" to facilitate the exploration of relationships, reinforcing a Again, relationships are intangible and invisible, but particular actions reveal their structure. In other words, in the first moment of this discussion, the practices carried out by adult caregivers will be compared with the theory in search of similarities or differences to determine the existence of a power and its relationship mode.
Based on the results collected from the applied instruments, parenting practices in general at home and at school are exposed to physical care, the incorporation of behavioral norms and the development of cognitive skills for school performance. Aguirre-Dávila & Morales-Castillo (2022) considers that in parenting practices, adults attend to specific behaviors of their children, providing care in feeding, satisfying the demand for affection and correcting behaviors against the norm. Then, it can be affirmed that adults in the family environment carry out said practices described by Aguirre-Dávila (2022; 2021), and that is also the case with adults in the educational environment, whereby somewhat similar actions they are kept in a parenting parallel.
Although Aguirre-Dávila et al., (2021) clarifies that parenting practices are part of family relationships (Aguirre-Dávila & Morales-Castillo, 2022), it can be observed that the behaviors developed in school have the same characteristics and apparently a similar purpose, which will not be deduced at this time, will be developed later. For now, it is possible to establish that there are parenting practices both in the family and in the educational environment. To continue, these practices will be specified, but closer to Foucault's theory.
It is clarified that it has not yet been said that the parenting practices, both in the family and in the school of the children under study, are the product of discipline, that will now be established through what Foucault called disciplinary power techniques (Foucault, 2009). In the first place, Foucault affirms that, to consider behaviors as techniques of disciplinary power, they must be oriented in the following classifications: the distribution of bodies, control of activities, organization of genesis and the composition of forces.
Foucault (2012) specifies that discipline takes advantage of exercises such as sanction and reward to continue controlling; In this sense, children recognize the relationship between meeting the established time and receiving a “happy face” or having to stay longer finishing their work while others play. At home, adults also take advantage of the system of punishments or rewards in meeting schedules, some with appetizing incentives such as sweets or promises to take you somewhere.
The constant and daily execution of activities in the family context and in the educational context is called habit, which is the main task of both entities: the achievement of the children incorporating certain habits for their daily lives; For Foucault, this becomes repetitive tasks imposed as a product of adult knowledge.
The composition of forces is notorious as a technology of disciplinary power, since, at home, it is the children who are at the bottom of the hierarchy, and in the same way it is at school. It is their adults who decide what is right or wrong for them; “mom and dad tell her because they are the ones in charge” are the words of a girl when she inquired about why the mother in the cartoon sends her daughter to brush her teeth, bathe and have breakfast.
At school, the rhythm is the same, the teacher is above all children and demands respect and obedience from them. It is also evident that her status as a teacher places her hierarchically above the parents. This is deduced from the fact that parents consider the teachers and the educational institution as a support that carries out the parenting process, since they must comply with other obligations that limit their time.
It can be clarified with the previous paragraphs, that technologies of disciplinary power do occur, but these are stipulated in the family in one way and in the school in another, which we will delve into below, addressing the techniques to generate discipline individuality. Each child must meet a number of conditions to be a "good child" throughout the day, this exposes him as a subject in a power relationship, since his actions are awaiting the assessment of adults, and during the day it will be adjusted to actions of vigilance and normalizing sanction to fulfill the expectations of the adult.
Parents and teachers spend most of their time monitoring the fulfillment of requests, among which the child follows instructions and obeys; But, when one of the surveillance entities is missing, the children act at their will, what the teachers in their activity program call “free play”; It is a space without restrictions, where the children are not in an imposed activity, however the teacher is still in the classroom to handle situations that get out of control and that is where the normalizing sanction appears. The normalizing sanction seeks to differentiate individuals and draw the border between normal and abnormal (Urízar Herrera 2019).
This makes it clear that the techniques of individualization of power do exist in both environments, the family and the educational one and achieve their mission of generating differences and creating particular cases and in many cases labels. The work at school is done in a group and there is a range of comparison, in the discourse the teachers express themselves about the children in a general way, “they sleep”, “come on, relieve themselves, wash their faces” , “The children go out”, “the speed with which the children work”; it is noted that their verbalizations are made in the plural to the extent that the whole group must function in the same way.
As Foucault (2003) affirms, it is in the school where concepts such as morality, sexuality, the norm, evaluation, among others, are not discussed, they are sustained in a passing from generation to generation and if what the philosopher affirms is related poststructuralist with the experience of early childhood children in school, it is well known that the implementation of technologies of disciplinary power by the teachers and sustained by the parents in the homes will continue with the formation of the subject in favor of the maintenance of power from the discipline.
So far, the analysis has made it possible to observe that both at school and in the family, children are immersed in hierarchical power relationships that depend on the execution of disciplinary strategies, which would mean that all children are submissive and respond favorably to the intentions that their two environments in relation determine for them. Foucault explains that, for a power relationship to exist, the subject must be free, therefore, children in a condition of submission would not have a logic from the author's approaches, that is why the term of resistance is now involved at this time of the discussion.
Resistance is not taken merely as the property of reacting or opposing a force in the opposite direction and similar to the action of the other, resistance is an active process, which sets a pattern of acting differently but still does not get out of power. An example of this is the dynamics of children responding to activities that are to their least liking where, even knowing that their teacher may refuse to change the activity, they suggest another more attractive activity for them.
Another example of such resistance is the negotiation that children make at the time of sleep, as this becomes a habit that must be followed. When a boy or girl does not want to sleep, they are urged to try, even so, this is not their will and even if they are lying on the mat they do not yield to the pressure of the group. Tantrums can also be interpreted as acts of resistance, which in some cases by generational tradition uses physical punishment to eliminate them. But, there are other ways of seeing the acts that children perform and that can not only be resistance, they can also be ways of controlling and executing the power of domination over their parents and caregivers.
Now, the taking or the change in the condition of execution of power does not imply that the child “commands” more or that the adult “commands” less, no, this means that power relations can be altered and modified, since be it one way or another, without implying convenience for whom or which. Consequently, it is essential to begin to identify knowledge within parenting practices. Knowledge supposes the historical construction by which practices are configured, thus, for the purposes of this analysis, it is required to know where the practices are maintained in terms of historical dimension (Foucault, 2009).
These are part of what the mothers expose and can be interpreted as the knowledge that sustains the practices, a whole series of justifications that emerge from the current context. The current state policy on early childhood indicates that this is the vital stage of the development cycle and that by guaranteeing integral development in it, favorable conditions are determined for the human being in the future (Restrepo-Segura, & García-Peña, 2021; Aguilar Barreto et al., 2019). It is probable that the mothers' knowledge is permeated by the condition set forth above, generating meanings and discourses that support the importance of their practices from special care in children, easy adaptation to change and guaranteeing a better future.
There are many possible justifications that are the product of the historical and social construction that support its use by mothers with their children. Constructions such as that children need to be formed because they do not have a structure and because that is the function of parents, as is also evidenced by Ariés (1986), in their research on childhood through history. The teachers have a repertoire of knowledge more oriented to the demands of the environment and the guarantee of rights, it can be taken as an institutionalized knowledge since its passage through academic institutions and its constant relationship with state policies in favor of early childhood.
Parenting practices do not go unnoticed in the production and maintenance of power and within their teachings, family and school teach children how the world works. It would then be expected that school and family in this particular context were oriented in different ways, but both are in charge of executing behavior regulation devices and introducing children to rules, norms and conditions, establishing in their head the "social order" (Foucault, 2009).
Mothers insist that their children comply with the habits of hygiene, feeding and rest, that they maintain organization and order and avoid unwanted behaviors that go against the norm, which is ultimately part of the regulation of behavior. The teachers in the space of 8 hours and with the help of other institutional caregivers make the children carry out the actions that are requested, they are aware of the movements of each child in their group and have control over their body and their activities, In this way, it is the teacher who authorizes whether the child can go to the bathroom, what time they will eat, and when they can wash their hands and teeth. And although regulation devices at home seem less than at school, those implemented at home can be more drastic than those at school.
The foregoing is subject to the verbalizations of the participants, taking into account that actions of physical punishment are considered a form of behavior regulation, which the teachers do not execute because the law specifically stipulates that a teacher cannot use any type of punishment that It is detrimental to the self-esteem of their students, but this is not something that is stipulated for parents, although the law states that a child should not be physically punished, it is still sustained in the speech of the people that it can be used hitting or screaming if the child's performance warrants it.
The regulatory device that derives from physical punishment generates fear and this affects the way in which children construct themselves as subjects and appropriate the world, thus condemning that they also perpetuate the punishment and sustain it as suitable for training. Attached to the foregoing, regulatory devices such as controlling activities also have an inappropriate impact, since at school the activities that are controlled are academic and are assumed to be an integral development objective. On the contrary, at home, parental control activities impose them without careful thought and are sometimes routine, they even become activities that have no value for their cognitive, physical, or social development, among them is the use of television so that the child does not make noise, assigning tasks without performing preparation exercises beforehand, playing video or computer games to focus the child's attention and minimize their activity.
These control devices are given life by the devices of truth, those that are knowledge in the strict sense of the discourse, it is not made up of several historical annexes, but rather accounts for the elaboration that the adult has made about their participation in the maintenance of power and in the modes of subjectivation (Foucault, 2003). The adults of the children participating in the study managed to incorporate discourses of social circulation and finally created their own perception of acting with respect to parenting.
Thus, they provided the real reasons for their behavior as caregivers and among them are that their parenting practices are relevant because it implies maintaining a positive relationship with their sons and daughters, because by training them with respect to their practices their children will not pass for the same difficulties as them. Parents also consider as a mode of subjectivation that they have experience in the formation of their children and that by forming them through habits and rules in this way they will be well educated; they also include plans, summarizing that the successful development of children depends on learning what parents teach them as children learning to fend for themselves.
The teachers establish as truth devices that favor their process of subjectivation with respect to operators of parenting practices in their students, the following: the child to the extent that he acquires the manners and habits that adapt easily to society, becomes he will become a person responsible for himself, he will respond favorably to the environment; in the same way, they state that children as subjects under construction must be in constant evolution and that their significant adults are there to help them in the process of becoming fit citizens of society.
The excess of control in the school and the family, the cases of flexibility in the family in response to the actions of resistance and the concern of the school as an institution to promote its ideologies in this case in accordance with the laws of the state for the former childhood, have created a relational triad school - family - childhood, where they do not operate separately, they are allied to achieve individual and group discourses, they are in constant communication, permeating and also modifying, because teachers as subjects influence children and They influence parents, children influence parents and their teachers, and parents influence their children and teachers as well.
Foucault (2009) defines the institution as a place where power is executed through discipline, order is maintained and children and young people are prepared for coexistence, thus being the phenomenon of first-class children. childhood in the school context and the relational triad that is generated begins to direct the family also as an institution, which maintains power, exercises the same power, and reproduces it constantly.
A second interest of this research, after power relations, is to account for the existence of technologies of the self, defined by Foucault (2005) as the techniques that allow individuals to carry out operations on their own bodies, souls, thoughts and behaviors and this in a way that achieves the transformation of himself until reaching a state of happiness. According to Foucault, technologies are also made up of practices, which is why the verbalizations provided by children will be contrasted to identify the configuration of their selfcare practices with Foucault's conceptualization.
At first it is necessary to identify if the children carry out self-care practices and of what kind. The findings suggest that children carry out practices that are considered proper of self-care, despite this, they do not have sufficient evidence of being their own products or evidence that they are not reinforced by parents and teachers and when they stop reinforcing these are lost from the behavioral repertoire.
Even so, an attempt is made to give a complete vision, since the technologies of whether they are not independent actions, they are dimensioned actions that require other executions. In the first moment of the classification based on Foucault's theoretical support, we will talk about those practices in children that account for their ability to evaluate themselves. In the presentation of the comics, the children showed the capacity for self-reflection oriented to aspects close to the domain of the body, that is, body postures, punishments, non-verbal expressions of affection, spatial location, which can be interpreted as a derivation of the relationship disciplinary power to which they are mediated, this implies that they are recognized as a subject body. However, the children, identified the concern and the ability to think within the comic, which implies that its construction of the mind subject can be facilitated and explored.
Continuing with another type of practice, there is the execution of norms and habits; children, due to the two contexts in which they are involved and the power relations between these contexts, flow in an endless amount of demands, therefore, they recognize the existence of norms so that the world has an order. Children respect these norms, the more they recognize that these norms are external and not their own and await the approval and confirmation of the adult to carry them out; they also recognize that breaking a standard has consequences and this gives a notion of knowledge of the world.
Practices oriented to the ability to face the world and be independent in children are limited; children suggest the need for an adult to be able to survive in the world, however, in the presence of adults, children little by little in their development are acquiring skills that make them feel independent and their own. In this way, the capacity for selfgovernment is also affected, since if the child does not recognize the ability to face the world, they will not identify options to critically decide and influence their reality. Among the findings, it was evidenced that children recognize the power of long-term decisions, but still do not measure the effects of their actions at any other level.
Foucault clearly states that whoever cares for himself must seek a state of health (Foucault, 2005). Children in relation to the care of their body have the behavioral repertoire that their adults - parents and teachers - have exercised and recognize habits of hygiene, grooming, the importance of physical activity, food, among others. This is an encouraging principle for the time to inquire about self-practices, being that, if children value their body and healthy physical state, they will have the basis to continue with the development of thought for the benefit of their life and achieve coherent modes of subjectivation.
On the other hand, you cannot pretend that you take care of yourself, when you forget the other (Foucault, 2005). The other, for the children of the institution, not only translates into other children, they register as part of those others, their parents, teachers and other adults, not only their peers and companions, they even recognize those children as existing subjects with whom they do not share physical space and see each other for a few minutes a day. Children interpret the suffering in others and feel empathy for them, give help and let their adults know if they do not have the solution. However, they hit, hurt and offend their peers, but this makes sense in the power relations that they also exercise within their group and seek to adapt in the best way to their immediate environment.
When inquiring about self-care practices in children of the institution, a series of actions appear vaguely that can be associated as such, however, although they are intended to improve the situation of children, these are still the result of the influence of disciplining technologies in the relational triad of power from the family and the initial education institution. These are altered as significant adults establish their usefulness and benefit in the lives of children.
In summary, it is the adult who structures said practices from their knowledge, but these cannot yet be established as technologies of the self in the strict sense of the concept, since they do not contain the main component, that is, that they are developed and executed with will. own from the life expectancies that the subject presents. Despite the above, the fact that although in the early years, these actions cannot be interpreted as technologies of the self, does not mean that these are not being configured in the subject, it is likely that the construction of technologies of the self is also It is influenced by cognitive and physical development, which can show another type of development in the following stages of the life cycle (García et al., 2020).
Conclusions
Currently, adult caregivers of children, to guarantee an integral development as defined by the national policies for childhood and adolescence, carry out a number of training practices that remain in coherence with what is established at a sociocultural level on what is expected to be achieved in the first stage of the life cycle and how appropriate development affects the rest of their lives. With respect to the above, parents within the family context carry out daily actions aimed at training, the most common being the interest in generating healthy grooming and hygiene habits, eating habits, schoolwork habits and the regulation of behavior.
Parents in their concern to ensure the well-being of their children, from the first years incorporate a second training entity where initial education is practiced. This is known as Comprehensive Early Childhood Care based on the legal framework of Law 1098 of 2006, Code of childhood and adolescence. These spaces work on the basis of early childhood in relation to the guarantees of rights and integral development. The conditions of these programs are clear, raising their interest in three basic aspects in children, nutrition, protection, and education. From the previous proof, variants of actions are also carried out so that children are formed from their institutional ideals.
By analyzing in detail the parenting practices in both environments, educational and family, they respond to disciplinary actions based on the norm and control of behavior. Parents and educational agents are involved to ensure that their children and students stay within the norm since when they learn it from a young age, their interaction with the world and their reality will be more adaptive. However, children, whether in the capacity of children or students, initiate behaviors of resistance to this discipline, seeking other forms of relationship with their authority figures.
The discourses that maintain current practices are the product of the socio-historical construction of adults and their individual relationship with the real context. Thus, control behaviors such as physical punishment are still maintained, even when child protection policies seek to eliminate this corrective model, employing others that increase self-reflection, promoting self-esteem and positive family relationships. The persistent thought in adults is that their children need to be trained, they require a structure, they demand guidance and their position as parents and teachers is to be regulators of said structure to guarantee the well-being of children and a better future.
The involvement of the school in the first years of life, has modified the participation of parents as training agents through power relations; The school also functions as a regulator of parents' actions to guarantee comprehensive development. The school is based on academic principles and knowledge related to the legal aspect as part of its speeches and truth devices. The early childhood school as an institution promotes disciplinary actions in relation to the academic and political approaches of today's society, hence, its discursive position in the evolution of the life cycle, the guarantee of rights, peaceful coexistence, the common good, among others.
The excess of control in the family and educational context has generated double-link relationships with feedback in three senses, which has been interpreted in this research as a relational triad where School - Family - Childhood are constructed as particular objects and are configured and they influence each other. In this way, not only the school, for boys and girls, fulfills a function as an institution, but the family begins to become visible as an institution, defined in Foucault's terms, which in relation to the relational triad helps maintain power, exercises the same power and reproduces it constantly.
The power relations generated from school and family, account for a subject prepared to follow orders, commit to authority and set aside selfinterest to become a “we”, this is due to the fact that children in school They are not executing processes of construction of themselves from their positions and reality, since their reality is configured by adults as shared. Based on this, children in early childhood must have the spaces to doubt themselves and their environment, criticize them and actively participate in their world and their relationships, to leave behind the position of a submissive childhood that only receives and does not is able to give in return and transform.
One aspect that can facilitate the bonding of early childhood children in the construction of subjectivity and the transformation of reality are the technologies of the self. Self-care practices are part of actions that can be highlighted as technologies of the self, but in children the behaviors that suggest self-care are derived from an entire disposition to the external agent, that is, it is subject to the teaching they provide their adults. Self-care practices in early childhood children exist, but they do not have the relational maturation essential to be considered technologies of the self. Now, with the fact that actions in favor of caring for oneself and the other are made visible, in future tense the infant will be open to the configuration of aspects that promote the development of technologies of the self.
Finally, it is in the interest of the authors to suggest research that accounts for power relations in children after completing the initial education stage in early childhood and is immersed in another environment: formal education, which supports other interests, powers and meanings. Likewise, it is interesting to be able to apply strategies that favor the technologies of the self from the first years and from initial education, with this the guarantee of the quality of life in the next stages of the life cycle to be established with certainty
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