PEDAGOGICAL DOCUMENTION
"Documentation is not about what we do, but what we are searching for" - Carla Rinaldi
What is Pedagogy?
Making Learning
Visible
The image below describes how students learn, live and work in the 21st century!!
URL: http://www.edugains.ca/newsite/21
stCenturyLearning/index.html
Prepare Students for 21st Century
21 Century Pedagogy
Pedagogy is how teaching is faciliated and the process of how students learn. It is known as the art and science of education. Every student has different abilities, therefore effective pedagogical practices incorporate a variety of teaching techniques to support students varying needs (Tangient, 2014).
URL: http://the-teacher.wikispaces.com
/Pedagogy+-+Teaching+and+Learning
+Strategies
Voice of the students
This image is from Diane and Louise's blog article entitled, "The Three Elements of the Documentation Process: Moving beyond Display to Interpretation (Technology Rich Inquiry Based Research, 2013)".
> An example of documentation at the Acorn School! "What gives soil its soil-ness?"
1. Analyze the three essential elements of the documentation process
> Encourage educators to prepare students for a fast changing, technology focused, golbalized economy!
> Higher order functioning: Critical thinking, probleming solving, collaboration, leadership and creativiety.
> Students as co-constructors of their own learning.
URL:http://www.edugains.ca/newsite/21stCenturyLearning/about_learning_in_ontario.html
What is Pedagogical Documentation?
Pedagogical Documentation is the process of making learning visible, which is open to interpretation and critique. It is a continuous process that encourages others to reflect on and discuss materials in a critical and democratic way (Dahlberg and Moss, 2005). Pedagogical Documentation has derived from the inspirational practices of the use of documentation in Infant-Toddler Centers and Preschools of Reggio Emilia, Italy (Alcock, 2000). Carlina Rinaldi is a Pedagogista who previously served as the Director of the Municipal Infant-Toddler Centers and Preschools of Reggio Emilia and is now a Pedagogical Consultant for children of Reggio Emilia(Rinaldi, 2004). She embraced her feelings of documentation as an act of love, care, and interaction, which is significant to the process of teaching and learning. Based on her experiences in Reggio Emilia, she writes about documentation as a process of making learning visible and the variety of opportunities for interpretations and dialogues (Dahlberg and Moss, 2005).When referring to traditional practices of documentation, the recordings and analysis of discoveries take place at the end of experiences, which evidently become a collection of records. In Reggio Emilia Centers, documentation is part of the school's life, it is an essiental way of creating and maintaining relationships and experiences between educators and children (Rinaldi, 2004). Documentation is not used to assess a childs' developmental process according to predetermined outcomes, but rather a critical tool to support one's construction of ideas, knowledge, experiences, etc. This tool goes beyond the dominate discourses and serves as opportunities for critical and reflective practices (Dahlberg and Moss, 2005).
Alcock, S. (2000). Pedagogical Documentation: Beyond observations. Institute for Early Childhood Studies, 7, Retrieved from http://researcharchive.vuw.ac.nz/x mlui/bitstream/handle/10063/882/paper.pdf?sequence=1
Rinaldi, C. (2004). The Relationship between Documentation and Assessment. Innovations in Early Education: the International Reggio Exchange, 11 (1), Retrieved from http://www.reggioalliance.org/downloads/relationship:rinaldi.pdf
Dahlberg, G., & Moss, P. (2005). Ethics and Politics in Early Childhood
Education. United States and Canada, NY: RoutledgeFalmer.
100 Languages - REGGIO EMILIA
100 Languages of Children poem: created by Loris Malaguzzi, who is the founder of the Reggio Emilia Approach.
URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=174pYUcwn7w& feature=
related
The hundred Languages signifies endless possibilities of childrens abilities to discover, analyze, inquire, and reflect. In Reggio Emilia, the Hundred Languages project was created to support individual rights for their well-being, as there are many ways of seeing and several ways of being (Centro Internazional Loris Malaguzzi, 2014). Children are encouraged to embrace multiple languages, with an assortment of materials that invite children to express themselves, through, paintings, sculpting, writing, building, drawing, etc. (Reggio Kids, 2014)
URL: http://www.reggiochildren.it/2011/09/2617/notizia-di-prova-consulenza/?lang=en
URL:http://www.reggiokids.com/the_hundred_languages_of_children.html
As children solve problems, construct new ideas and theories, they are provided with a variety of materials and encouraged to express their understanding through different representations. They are also encouraged to revisit and reflect on their representations, to discover if new theories evolve and to modify existing beliefs (Reggio Kids, 2014). These meaningful learning experiences are facilitated by educators, who scaffold to support childrens knowledge construction (Gibson, 2009). A scaffolding strategy created by a social constructivist theorist named Lev Vygotsky, is known as the zone of proximal development. The zone of proximal development is the distance between the child's understanding of a particular skill and his or her potential development with adult guidance (Gibson, 2009). Vygotsky believed that when adult assistance is provided, the student will receive sufficient support to achieve a task (McLeod, 2012).
URl (Reggio Kids): http://www.reggiochildren.it/2011/09/2617/notizia-di-prova-consulenza/?lang=en
URL (ZPD): http://www.simplypsychology.org/Zone-of-Proximal-Development.html
Book: Gibson, S. (2009). Teaching social studies in elementary schools: A social constructivist approach. Toronto, ON: Thomson Nelson.
URl: The Hundred Languages of Children>
 Painting |  Clay |  Sticks, Leaves and Paint |
|---|---|---|
 Sand, Rocks, Pipes, etc. |
Click each Honeycomb to retrieve full image and URL link!
3 Elements of the documentation process
It is in stated Diane and Louise's article blog titled, "The Three Elements of the Documentation Process– Moving beyond Display to Interpretation," that documentation is now used within the mainstream educational system, as it is supported by the Ontario Government. The Ontario Early Learning Framework indicates the importance of documentation in early years settings and is evidently supported through the 3 elements of the documentation process, which are to Observe, Document and Interpret(ation)(Technology Rich Inquiry Based Research, 2013)".
The Reggio Emilia approach recognizes the importance of documenting childrens work as it progresses, as it is an essential part of the learning process. During the documentation process photographs are taken of childrens engagement and notes are recorded of conversations with peers and educators discussing their activities, ideas, feelings and prior and new knowledge. These detailed artifacts are displayed as a tool to support the learning process, utilized for an authentic assessment, which creates dialogue among peers and educators involved in the process. Above, is an example of documentation where students are experimenting with the color green. When analyzing the documentation, look at the careful representation in each step of the student’s process when working with a variety of materials to construct their knowledge and understanding.
URL: http://education.ed.pacificu.edu/bailey/resources/papers/Lstories/examples.html
Project Zero: Making Learning Visible Project. Collaboration between Project Zero Researchers and Educators in Reggio Emilia, Italy. "Using Documentation as a tool to Support Learning".
A great example of documenting a child's choice of language during a learning experience. This can be used to reflect on the learning process
URL: http://ljpskindergartenteam.blogspot.ca/2013/04/blocks-books-and-x-ray-machines.html?m=0
The Three Elements of the Documentation Process: Observe, Document and Interpret(ation). The chart below was created by Diane Kashin, who is an inspiring professor of The Bachelor of Child Development program at Seneca College.
By inviting children, families, professionals and others to interpret their understanding of the documentation, educators will gain new insights and multiple perspectives, which will aid as a tool to inform meaningful curriculum decisions (Technology Rich Inquiry Based Research, 2013). Professionals inspired by the Reggio Emilia Approach use Pedagogical Documentation as an interactive process where interpretation is invited to guide the learning process. As stated in Diane and Louise’s website article, "In Reggio Emilia, the image of knowledge is seen from the metaphor of a tangle of spaghetti (rhizome)– with no beginnings and no end, but always an in between, with openings towards other directions and places (Technology Rich Inquiry Based Research, 2013)".
Ontario Early Years Framework
URL:http://www.edu.gohttp://www.edu.gov.on.ca/childcare/oelf/observation/observation/index.htmlhttp://www.edu.gov.on.ca/childcare/oelf/observation/observation/index.htmlv.on.ca/childcare/oelf/observation/observation/index.html
Educators are responsible for observing children to gain insight on specific interests, needs and experiences.
Making Learning Visible
Documentation of a child transfering a sketch into a 3D art table. The child used a variety of materials to create her representation of the tabel (100 Languages).
Interpretation
Diane Kashin and Louise Jupp collaborated with the faculty at Richland Academy to discuss the process of evaluating and reflecting when reviewing their documentation. During this collaborative process, the educators deeply reflected on the three essential elements of the documentation process: Observe, Document and Interpret(ation)(iNQUIRING MINDS,2013).
OBSERVE, DOCUMENT, INTERPRET(ATION).
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Documentation from Garden Gate Child Development Center! A literacy based experience sparked the childrens interests to work cooperatively to reflect and represent their understanding of owls, snakes, monsters, cats and mouses, etc. Throughout the learning experience the children developed an emotional inquiry regarding the fear and safety of the owls.
Image from Diane Kashin and Louise Jupp‘s article titled, "Documenting Collaboration in Teaching and Learnin (Technology Rich Inquiry Based Learning, 2013) ".