Pedagogical documentation as a lens for examining equality in early childhood education

ABSTRACT In this paper, we consider pedagogical quality particularly as equal opportunities for participating in decision-making in preschool. Relying on Ferraris’ [2013. Documentality: Why it is necessary to leave traces. New York: Fordham University Press] theory of Documentality, we demonstrate how pedagogical documentation can contribute to understanding children’s perspectives and discuss how it may help facilitate children’s perspectives to become part of their everyday lives at preschool. In addition, we examine, using a multi method approach, how our conceptualizations help critically examine equality in early childhood education (ECE). The study was conducted in Finnish preschools. The data source for this study is composed of the researcher’s observation diary, self-documentation conducted by teachers (n = 13), individual ECE plans of 104 2 to 7-year-old children and document-aided interviews with their teachers (n = 13). Finally, we critically discuss the consequences of our findings in terms of documentation, pedagogy and the equality of ECE.

[1]  B. Ytterhus,et al.  ‘Talking bodies’ , 2014 .

[2]  L. Lipponen,et al.  Documenting with parents and toddlers: a Finnish case study , 2014 .

[3]  Lasse Lipponen,et al.  Building on the positive in children's lives: a co-participatory study on the social construction of children's sense of agency , 2014 .

[4]  Maarit Alasuutari,et al.  Assessment and Documentation in Early Childhood Education , 2014 .

[5]  Wendy Lee,et al.  Learning Stories: Constructing Learner Identities in Early Education , 2012 .

[6]  Marianne Fenech,et al.  An Analysis of the Conceptualisation of ‘Quality’ in Early Childhood Education and Care Empirical Research: Promoting ‘Blind Spots' as Foci for Future Research , 2011 .

[7]  A. Clark.  Young Children as Protagonists and the Role of Participatory, Visual Methods in Engaging Multiple Perspectives , 2010, American journal of community psychology.

[8]  Eeva-Leena Onnismaa.  Lapsi, lapsuus ja perhe varhaiskasvatusasiakirjoissa 1967-1999 , 2010 .

[9]  Maarit Alasuutari,et al.  Framing the Picture of the Child , 2010 .

[10]  R. Rosen.  ‘we got our heads together and came up with a plan’ , 2010 .

[11]  I. Samuelsson,et al.  Child Perspectives and Children’s Perspectives in Theory and Practice , 2010 .

[12]  Anna Pauliina Rainio,et al.  From Resistance to Involvement: Examining Agency and Control in a Playworld Activity , 2008 .

[13]  P. Moss.  Bringing politics into the nursery: early childhood education as a democratic practice , 2007 .

[14]  Michel Vandenbroeck,et al.  Children’s Agency and Educational Norms , 2006 .

[15]  Wolff-Michael Roth,et al.  Doing Qualitative Research: Praxis of Method , 2005 .

[16]  A. Clark,et al.  Listening to and involving young children: a review of research and practice , 2005 .

[17]  Peter Moss,et al.  Getting beyond the problem with quality , 2000 .

[18]  Gunilla Dahlberg,et al.  Beyond Quality in Early Childhood Education and Care: Languages of evaluation , 1999 .

[19]  Pertti J. Pelto,et al.  Ethnographic Research: A Guide to General Conduct , 1987 .

[20]  Richard Davies,et al.  Documentality: Why it is necessary to leave traces , 2013 .

[21]  Claire Wolstenholme,et al.  Children's experiences of the Early Years Foundation Stage , 2010 .

[22]  Gunilla Dahlberg,et al.  Beyond quality in early childhood education and care : postmodern perspectives , 1999 .

[23]  Austin Henderson,et al.  Interaction Analysis: Foundations and Practice , 1995 .