One of the children mentioned, “Isn’t that the paper butterfly that we made last week?”
The educator also mentioned, “Yes! Also, we’ve added our bus and back-pack that we made together for play too!”
One by one, children noticed the changed board by the entrance. They pointed with their hand to the ones that they made. They started talking about what happened before and after making. The process was re-told by the children and educators once again. The educators in the Out of School Care program brainstormed what we can present and how we can present the process of making to the children and families. The room and the boards started becoming a stage or a gallery of collaboration. Children’s conversation was noted on the side of each piece. Children read over and invited more questions and stories.
What is Pedagogical Documentation?
The educators called the program as a studio. The gathering of unique individuals to collaborate in various projects. Pedagogical documentation was a big word and concept at first. Yet as we practiced and noticed moments of children in the processes, it became a routine. The ratio is way bigger than any other group, yet educators shuffled around the small gatherings of children and open discussions for further exploration.
Through pedagogical documentation, … “[the educators and children] felt surprise, delight, frustration, puzzlement, and, at times, genuine bewilderment. Most of what [they] experienced together with the children exceeded [their] capacity to know, but knowing was never [their] aim.” The documentation is flexible and genuine. It contains not only words but visuals or sounds. It invites and welcomes the viewer, space, environment, and further bewilderments. The out of school children are filled with imagination based on their knowledge, skills, and interest. The pedagogical documentation supports those and invites children and the educator to go on a journey together not to find answers but to explore what they can find on their way.
Reference:
Pacini-Ketchabaw, Veronica, et al. Encounters With Materials in Early Childhood Education, Taylor and Francis, 2016. ProQuest Ebook Central.