Pedagogical Documentation: Module 1

eJournal

Welcome to your eJournal for the first module of our three-part Pedagogical Documentation online course. The eJournal is your place to record thoughts and reflections as you navigate through the segments.

Our goals for this module are to

  • define the terms associated with pedagogical documentation
  • understand what we mean by pedagogical documentation
  • appreciate the value of pedagogical documentation as a method to improve learning and teaching

Before we begin, we would like you to think about and record your personal learning goals for taking this course.

My learning goals for this course are

Module 1 Table of Contents

Screen / Description
1 / Accessibility information
2 / Welcome and Module 1 goals
3 / View of learners (Early Years Framework, 2013)
4 / Reflection: Current knowledge of pedagogical documentation
5 / Example 1, DOCit: What it is and why use it
6 / Triangulating data
7 / Reflection: Documenting practices
8 / Common terms in pedagogical documentation
9 / Key questions for the module
10 / Question 1: What is pedagogical documentation?
11 / Roots of pedagogical documentation: Loris Malaguzzi, Carlina Rinalda
12 / Determining the value of observing student learning processes
13 / Supporting article: Dr. Carol Anne Wien (author)
Making Learning Visible Through Pedagogical Documentation
14 / Beginning the process of observation
15 / Questioning, remaining at a distance, and collaborating
16 / Using DOCit to keep your observations organized
17 / Supporting video: Karyn Callaghan
Understanding the role of teacher as researcher
18 / Quick self-check: Matching key terms
19 / Reflection: Topics discussed so far
20 / Question 2: Why engage in pedagogical documentation?
21 / Supporting video: Melissa Rivard
Documentation: Transforming Our Perspective
22 / Reflecting on the video
23 / Ways children learn, and adults read learning
24 / Reflection: Current teaching practices
25 / Mind Map: Exploring the benefits of implementing pedagogical documentation
26 / Purposes of pedagogical documentation
27 / Supporting video: Debbie Halls on how she began documenting
28 / Video reflection
29 / Activity between modules: Selecting a student to observe
30 / Introduction to questions
31–36 / Check your understanding: Questions 1 to 6
37 / Request for feedback
38 / Citation of sources
39 / Closing sequence

NOTE: The TOC in the online module indicates the time length for each screen. The time for the Accessibility audio file is included in the total time of the last screen in the module. There is also a running time count at the bottom at the TOC. The total time includes the audio file.

If the online module freezes at any point, please select the TOC button, select a different screen, and then select the one you were viewing. Or, close the module, reopen it, open the TOC, and select the screen you were viewing.

A View of Learners

We developed this professional learning course with a particular view of learners in mind. We view both students and teachers as competent, curious, and capable of complex thinking. In many respects, we believe the quote below applies to teachers as well as learners.

We view children as competent, capable of complex thinking, curious, and rich in potential. They grow up in families with diverse social, cultural, and linguistic perspectives. Every child should feel that he or she belongs, is a valuable contributor to his or her surroundings, and deserves the opportunity to succeed. When we recognize children as capable and curious, we are more likely to deliver programs and services that value and build on their strengths and abilities.
— Early Years Policy Framework (2013), Ontario Ministry of Education

Gathering Evidence of Student Learning

Think about where you are spending your time. Historically, we seem to have put more emphasis on looking at the finished product. But due to current research on assessment, there has been a gradual shift to consider input from a number of sources.

This graphic of triangulation of data suggests that we place equal emphasis on gathering evidence of student learning through observation, conversations, and product.

Documenting Practices

Jot some answers to the questions below to get a sense of your current practice. As we move through this module and the two modules that follow it, you will see that many of your current practices play a role in pedagogical documentation.

1.What are your purposes for documenting?

2.What tools and methods do you use?

3.When do you document?

The Terminology of Pedagogical Documentation

You’ve probably heard many of the terms listed below. This module offers you some context for the terms you’ve been hearing, and provides a broad overview of pedagogical documentation.

  • Assessment for learning
  • Pedagogical documentation
  • Pedagogy
  • Documentation
  • Teacher as researcher
  • Responsive pedagogy
  • Reflective practice
  • Knowing the learner
  • Inquiry

We will focus on two key questions to shape this module:

1. What is pedagogical documentation?
2. Why engage in pedagogical documentation?

As we work through the questions we hope that you can further develop your understanding of pedagogical documentation, relate it to what you are already doing in your classroom, and see the value of making it an intentional part of your practice.

1. What Is Pedagogical Documentation?

Loris Malaguzzi was an Italian educator who, after WWII, saw the need to pave a new path in education, one where the child was considered a key and equal partner and driver in the learning process. The Reggio Emilia philosophy of education began, led by Malaguzzi. His work has been continued and advanced by educators such as Carlina Rinaldi, who has been instrumental to the adoption of Reggio principles around the world.

Stand aside for a while and leave room for learning, observe carefully what children do, and then, if you have understood well, perhaps teaching will be different from before.— Loris Malaguzzi (1998)
Pedagogical documentation makes visible, at least partially, the nature of learning processes and strategies used by each child. This means that the teacher, but above all the child and the children themselves, can reflect on the nature of their learning processes as they are learning; that is, while they are building knowledge. Not a documentation of products, but of processes, of mental paths. — Carlina Rinaldi(2004)

The above quotes illustrate key elements of pedagogical documentation:

  • teacher and children as equal learners and researchers
  • the value of process in learning
  • the child as central to that learning process
  • the role of observation to inform practice

The Ontario Ministry of Education offers the following definition of Pedagogical Documentation in the policy document How Does Learning Happen? Ontario’s Pedagogy for the Early Years,2014.

Pedagogical documentation is about more than recording events—it is a means to learning about how children think and learn. It offers a process to explore all of our questions about children. As suggested by Carlina Rinaldi, it is a way of listening to children, helping us to learn about children during the course of their experiences and to make this learning visible to others for interpretation.32 And, it encourages educators to be co-learners alongside both children and their families….
Moving beyond simply an objective reporting of children’s behaviour, pedagogical documentation helps to find meaning in what children do and what they experience.34 It is:
  • a way to value children’s experiences and include their perspectives;
  • a way to make children’s learning and understanding of the world around them visible to the children themselves;
  • a process for educators to co-plan with children and with families;
  • a means of sharing perspectives with parents and colleagues. When families and others are invited to contribute to the documentation and share their own interpretations, it can provide even more insights that children, educators, and families can return to, reflect on, and remember in order to extend learning.
— How Does Learning Happen? Ontario’s Pedagogy for the Early Years, 2014, Ontario Ministry of Education
32. Rinaldi, C. (2004). In dialogue with Reggio Emilia: Listening, researching and learning. London: Routledge
34. Gandini, L., & Kaminsky, A.(n.d.). Reflections on the relationship between documentation and assessment in the American context: An Interview with Brenda Fyfe. Innovations in Early Education. Retrieved from

Questions to Consider

1.How do you take time to observe and listen to your students?

2.What are some of the things you learn from standing aside, listening, and observing the process of the learning?

3.How might understanding and focusing on the process that students use as they create a product (rather than the product) change assessment for learning, your feedback, or even how the task is developed?

4.How does theOntario Ministry of Education’s definition of pedagogical documentation build on Carlina Rinaldi’s definition from 2004?

Making Learning Visible

We would like you to read a short article written by Dr. Carol Anne Wien. The article provides a good introduction to the study of pedagogical documentation. While written for an early childhood education audience, its description of pedagogical documentation is appropriate to all grades.

Please click the link below to access the article on the Ontario Ministry of Education website.

Making Learning Visible Through Pedagogical Documentation

Toward a Pedagogy of Listening, Documenting, and Researching

The following list summarizes the tenets of pedagogical documentation.

1.We become keen observers of learning and see ourselves as “kid watchers.” When we begin the process of observation, we need to keep the following questions in mind:

a)Why are we choosing to watch these students?

b)What questions do we have?

c)What puzzles us? What intrigues us?

2.We need to stop ourselves from “jumping in” to interject or interrogate (whether we need to or not).

3.We capture our observations in writing, in video, or in photos. These observations lead us to ask questions that we need to investigate.

4.Questions are investigated in a community of learners that can comprise the learner, other educators, and the learner’s family.

The Teacher as Reflective Practitioner

Much of our learning about the role of teacher as researcher is from early years research and the field of childcare. Karyn Callaghan is a professor of early childhood education whose expertise has been valued as we bring together the worlds of childcare and education. In this clip, Professor Callaghan talks about the teacher as reflective practitioner.

Please click the link below to access the video on the Ontario Ministry of Education website.

Early Learning Framework, Principle 6—Reflective Practice

Questions

1.As you watch and listen, reflect on the artist’s vision of the child.

2.How does the artist view this child as a learner and thinker?

3.What is his image of the child?

Check Your Understanding of the Terminology

1.Pedagogical documentation

2.Pedagogy

3.Assessment for learning

4.Reflective practice

5.Inquiry

6.Teacher as researcher

7.Responsive pedagogy (teaching)

8.Documentation

9.Knowing the learner

Match the terms to the definitions by inserting the number next to the correct definition.

___Gathering information about student learning before, during, and near the end of a period of instruction using a variety of assessment tools and strategies to inform instruction, guide next steps, and help students monitor their progress

___The collection of “visible records” (written notes, photos, videos, audio recordings, children’s work) for the purpose of enabling teachers, parents, and students to describe, discuss, interpret, and reflect upon learning from their own points of view and then to explore possibilities for next steps

___The thoughtful study of teaching and learning

___Records of student learning that can be verbal, textual, or visual

___The practice of raising questions and examining assumptions about what we think we know about student learning through the thoughtful and intentional investigation of the process of learning

___Observation of students to intentionally scaffold learning that supports each student’s needs, cultures, realities, and motivations

___Engaging in a cycle of continuous learning by taking the time to stop and think about one’s teaching practice, recording thoughts, and analyzing instructional decisions

___Understanding the forces—familial, cultural, social, economic—that contribute to a child’s experience of and in school and using this understanding to create supportive learning conditions

___An approach to learning that places students—their questions, observations, and learning—as the primary driver in a classroom

See answers on page 20.Classroom Practice

Take a few minutes to reflect on what you have viewed, discussed, or written about in the first segment of the module. Then consider the following questions.

Classroom Practice Questions

1.What questions do you have about your students’ learning? What are you wondering about? What would you like to explore?

2.What learning opportunities do you provide? How is the process of learning made visible in these opportunities?

3.How is your image of the child projected inside and outside your classroom?

4.How does our image of the child influence the way we look at learning?

a)what we pay attention to

b)what we might miss

c)our assumptions about what we see and hear

2. Why Engage in Pedagogical Documentation?

To begin this segment of the module, we would like you to watch a short documentary about the practice of pedagogical documentation and its power to transform our teaching practice.

Documentation: Transforming Our Perspective

Please clickthe link above to access the video.

After you have viewed the video, consider the following questions.

Questions

1.How do the messages of this video connect to the information gleaned from the article written by Carol Anne Wien?

2.What is your understanding of teacher-researcher after viewing this video?

3.How does pedagogical documentation cause teachers to transform their practice?

4.How does pedagogical documentation help you to come to know the whole child? Think differently about children?

5.Describe a classroom environment that fosters the practice of pedagogical documentation by providing opportunities for students to make their thinking and learning visible. What would it look like, sound like, and feel like from a student’s perspective? From an educator’s perspective?

Reflecting on Our Practice

Pedagogical documentation describes the practice of studying documentation in concert with others (educators, children, and parents) to learn about, as Carol Anne Wien says, “ways that children learn, and ways that adults read children’s learning.”

Take a few minutes to consider the following questions. Focus on answering the question that is most important to you.

Questions

1.How can we be open to the unexpected as we observe and listen to children?

2.What are the different lenses that we might use as we observe and listen
to children?

3.What are some of the skills and habits that we will come to develop as we continue to engage in the practice of documentation?

4.What is the difference between pedagogical documentation and documentation
of learning?

5.What might this look like with older students?

Mind Map: The Value of Pedagogical Documentation

Create a mind map to document why you think pedagogical documentation might be valuable for your teaching practice. Remember some of the basic mind map practices:

  • don’t edit before you write (free your mind)
  • each cell on your mind map can be the start of a new map
  • colour and shape are ways to categorize some of your thoughts
  • sharing brings your map to life

The Benefits of Pedagogical Documentation

Educators and researchers have noted the following benefits of pedagogical documentation.

Pedagogical documentation

  • gives permission to slow down, step back, and look at the learning
  • helps educators know students beyond the limits of common assessment tools, encouraging responsive, intentional decisions about next steps in learning and teaching
  • allows educators to identify the learning within a multi-disciplinary learning encounter
  • allows educators to identify competencies of students in multiple contexts
  • welcomes the voice of students in learning, leading to student ownership and engagement in learning
  • allows students, educators, and parents to develop a shared understanding of the learning
  • links to reflection on teaching and impacts on learning
  • allows for multiple interpretations of learning and opens new possibilities for teaching and learning in classrooms
  • makes student learning and thinking visible

On Beginning Pedagogical Documentation

After you have viewed the video of teacher Debbie Halls talking about beginning pedagogical documentation, consider the following questions.

Questions

1.When did Debbie’s documentation practice become “pedagogical documentation”?

2.How important are the “others” who participate in studying the documentation? How do perspectives of the child, parents, and colleagues help to “open the lenses” for looking at pedagogical documentation?

3.How is inquiry and play-based learning supported by the practice of pedagogical documentation?

4.How does Debbie demonstrate the stance of teacher-researcher?

5.How does she view her students as learners?

6.What are you continuing to wonder about after viewing this video?

Between Modules: Some Activities

We would like you to consider taking part in several activities. We would also like to suggest that you leave at least three weeks between this module and Module 2. This gap in time will allow you to implement the activities and have a chance to reflect on your practice.

Suggested Activities

1.Choose a child about whom you are wondering or curious. Throughout this course we will ask you to anchor your learning to your observations and documentation around this child.

a)For this module we ask you to consider: Why does this child cause you to wonder?

b)Then observe, listen, and document the conversations and actions of this child for 10 minutes over several days.

2.Reflect on the experience of observing the student, without interrupting him or her in their learning.

a)What surprised you?

b)What did you notice?

c)What are you wondering about?

d)How does this knowledge change your learning plan for this student?

Check Your Understanding

The following questions are included strictly as a self-check of your understanding of the content in this module.

1.Pedagogical documentation is appropriate for students up to Kindergarten. True or False?