Early Childhood

Pedagogical Documentation When I first entered a kindergarten, I was unaware how documentation and assessments were completed. During my second and third practicum, I was introduced to anecdotal documentation through OneNote. I noticed there was a great emphasis on taking pictures for documentation in order to have evidence for report cards. I did question was I fully involved in the child’s experience or was I taking too much time taking pictures? Was I prioritizing quantity over quality? Was this just for the parents? After some time to reflect after my practicum and with this week’s reading, I discovered that pedagogical documentation is multifaceted and complex. Pedagogical documentation is more than just about recording events – it encapsulates the learning about how children learn and think. It offers a process to explore all of our questions about children. Carlina Rinaldi discuses pedagogical documentation as a way of listening, experiencing and making learning ...

Child as Totem: Redressing the Myth of Inherent Creativity in Early Childhood “The idea that children see the world more clearly 
 than adults, with its implication that exposure to 
 adult culture corrupts this innocent sight, is a form 
 of mythic speech that supports the myth of inherent creativity.” – McClure (2011) To state that children see the world more clearly than adults is a naïve and oversimplification of how children view the world. Children are not fully competent individuals, hence why we teach them certain skills, value, morals and life lessons to better themselves to become competent and well rounded adults. Nevertheless, I do believe that due to children being less conscious beings they intrinsically reveal a much more creative outlook and output of work through art than the majority of adults.   However, I do believe that there should be some restrictions on children’s output through art. Children are a by-product of their environment. W...