The what, the why, and the how of pedagogical documentation

What does your classroom say about the children’s ideas, inquiries, learning, and play? A inspiring step-by-step guide to documenting children’s ideas, questions, play, and learning in a way that enhances teachers' thinking and understanding at the same time, Pedagogical Documentation in Early Childhood will help you answer those questions and create documentation that tells the story of children’s exploration.

This practical guide provides rich ideas, useful references, beautiful visuals, and the framework to get you started, as well as ideas for developing the documentation habit, design tips, and tools for communicating the curriculum and children’s experiences to families and others. Each chapter concludes with an invitation to explore, which offers you a starting point if you are new to pedagogical documentation, or a pathway to deeper reflection if you are already practicing it.

The book has been revised and expanded for the second edition, including material on:

• Digital documentation.
• Documentation of infants and non-verbal children.
• Using documentation as a “thread” to follow the unfolding inquiries of children, including the use of sketch notebooks.
• Including the teacher’s voice, as well as the children’s, and the role of teacher’s curiosity.
• Bringing forward new thinking from the educators in Reggio Emilia.
• Leveraging pedagogical narration as a form of teacher-growth.