The professional actuation of pedagogical documentation in Belgian and Finnish early childhood education settings

• Published in: Early child development and care Vol. 190; no. 3; pp. 400 - 413
• Main Authors: Hostyn, Ine, Mäkitalo, Anna-Riitta, Hakari (Tast), Sylvia, Vandenbussche, Liselotte
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Abingdon Routledge 17.02.2020; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Administrator Attitudes; Caregiver Attitudes; Caregiver Child Relationship; Child Care; Child Caregivers; Child Development; Childhood; Cross Cultural Studies; current practices; Documentation; Early Childhood Education; ECEC; Educational Practices; Faculty Development; Foreign Countries; Informed consent; Neighborhoods; Parent Caregiver Relationship; Parent Teacher Cooperation; Pedagogical documentation; Pedagogy; Peer Relationship; pre-school education; Preschool Teachers; Professional development; Professionals; Recordkeeping; staff perspective; Student Records; Teacher Attitudes; Teacher Student Relationship; Teachers; Belgium; Finland
• ISSN: 0300-4430; 1476-8275
• DOI: 10.1080/03004430.2018.1475368

The advantage of pedagogical documentation has been widely documented in the field of early childhood education and care (ECEC). However, little research points out how and why professionals are using pedagogical documentation from the staff's perspective itself. Therefore, this research aimed to examine how pedagogical documentation is employed in their professional practice. The data for this descriptive qualitative study were collected by interviewing 56 ECEC professionals (heads of organizations, teachers and child minders) after their informed consent. Three purposes in using pedagogical documentation were detected: 1/ to demonstrate facts and growth, 2/ to provoke further thinking; 3/ to facilitate adult-child interaction and interaction among adults. These uses were directed at children, parents, professionals, the neighbourhood, and the interactions across these groups. The results show that staff uses pedagogical documentation in multiple ways, but not often as a tool for professional development. This yields future perspectives to support reflective professional development.