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 visible to others for interpretation. Also, it encourages educators to be co-learners along with children and their families. (How Does Learning Happen, p. 21)
One aspect that I noticed was if, instead of pictures, would it be better to record students as documentation. Teachers would be able to be involved or not at all in the child’s learning experience and at the end of the day be able to analyze the video. This would avoid teachers over emphasizing the pressure of documentation and create quality reports of the child. Even though, this new way of documenting students in kindergarten may increase the work load in teachers, it be will much more genuine and thoughtful when students read their report cards.  

Dahlberg, Moss, and Pence (2007) discuss the difference between pedagogical documentation and child observation. They state pedagogical document as how to interpret pedagogical work and being able to determine what the child is capable of without a predetermined framework of norms and expectations. On the contrary, child observation is understood as assessing the child’s psychological development and determining what the child should be doing at that developmental age. However, I would have to disagree with the authors. Both definitions are mutually inclusive. Pedagogical documentation is encompassed with child observations and the notion that imposing children under a particular framework, with expectations and norms is a negative construct for the child’s development (Dahlberg, Moss, & Pence, 2007). In our world today, we live under rules, expectations and notions on how individuals should communicate, act, and present themselves in society. Simple behavioural framework such as treating others respectfully all the way to the extremes, such as killing another individual, are socially constructed norms that a vast majority of people follow in Western parts of the world. Without these laws and unwritten rules, there would be a lot more destruction, pain and suffering in the world we live in. Hence, as human civilization grows, we become more ethical individuals and society becomes a more comfortable place to live.  
I believe I still have to learn more information about pedagogical documentation and discover a way to extrapolate some objectivity from their learning process and finished products.





References
Dahlberg, G., Moss, P., & Pence, A. (2007). Pedagogical documentation: A practice for
reflection and democracy. In G. Dahlberg, P. Moss, & A. Pence, Beyond quality in early childhood education and care: Languages of evaluation (3rd ed.). New York: Routledge.
Ontario Ministry of Education. (2014). How Does Learning Happen? Ontario’s Pedagogy for the
Early Years. Retrieved from:  http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/childcare/howlearninghappens.pdf


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