The following paper presents the results of a case study on the educational potentiality of pedagogical documentation as a way to construct the research disposition of preschool teachers in initial education. After an introductory reflection on the relevance of provoking the reconstruction of practical knowledge, pedagogical documentation is…

This study explored options for pedagogical photo documentation in early childhood education and care (ECEC) practices to hear the voices of children, parents, and guardians in ways that make developing the documentation manageable for practitioners. Two Japanese kindergartens participated in an action research project entitled 'Wall Newspapers…

This article investigates what happens to institutional narratives of care in Swedish preschool when a policy on increased documentation is introduced. Questions deal with preschool teachers' professionalism as expressed through the teachers' talk about documentation. The analysis is based on theories in education policy, teacher professionalism…

Pedagogical documentation is a practice currently used in Italian early childhood education and care (ECEC) services to make visible children's learning processes in ECEC, to promote parents' participation and to support professionals' reflexive competences. These functions of pedagogical documentation have been enhanced within a system of…

This article focuses on aspects of the notion of care in relation to the work of quality documentation in the Swedish preschool. Questions deal with how teachers enact pedagogy in relation to the documentation work; how they handle the demands of visibility; and which aspects of the teacher profession are exposed and which are silenced. Data…

Assessment and the documentation of learning is an international issue in early childhood education (ECE) and has increasingly become a way for governments to exercise direct control over the practitioners working with young children. This paper details recent statutory guidance about assessment and documentation for English ECE settings and…

This study compares the stances of practitioners, parents and the quality assurance authority on the assessment of learning in New Zealand (NZ) early childhood education (ECE). The phenomenographic interview participants include practitioners (24) and parents (11) from 11 ECE settings. The reports issued by the Education Review Office (ERO) on all…

This article examines how documentation concealed racialising practices in a diversity project that was seen to be productive and inclusive. Documentation examples are taken from a doctoral study about embedding Indigenous perspectives in early childhood education curricula in two Australian urban childcare centres. In place of reporting examples…

The aim of this study is to investigate communication between preschool teachers and children in documentation situations. The focus is also on what preschool teachers actually document. The research questions are: What characterizes the communication between teachers and children when these teachers are documenting at the same time? What is the…

The pedagogical documentation of educational processes in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) centres is an important concern of early childhood education. Its purpose is to make learning visible and to stimulate discussion between educators and parents. In the academic discourse, however, pedagogical documentation is subject to differing…

Collaborating with parents in documenting and reflecting on children's learning is important not only because it provides teachers with richer and more accurate information but also because it helps parents understand the role assessment can play in student learning and motivation. Moreover, when parents are provided with opportunities to observe,…

In recent years, there has been a growing interest in pedagogical documentation and the way in which it can be applied to advance pedagogical practices in early childhood education. This study is a case analysis which focuses on the transition phase from home to kindergarten of a toddler, Leo, and his family. Documentation was performed by the…

The Finnish social pedagogical curriculum for early childhood education directs early childhood teachers to use documentation to assess and develop pedagogy and practise. This empirical study examines the challenges and benefits a group of Finnish preschool teachers experienced when they learned to document their work. Although the idea of…

There is a broad consensus in international debates that the quality of early childhood education and care (ECEC) services is inextricably linked to the professionalisation of its workforce. In particular, the importance of providing ECEC practitioners with continuing professional development (CPD) opportunities has been increasingly recognised in…

Systematic documentation and analysis of educational practice can be a powerful tool for continuous support to the professionalism of early childhood education practitioners. This paper discusses data from a three-year action-research initiative carried out by a research agency in collaboration with a network of Italian municipal "nido"…