Too often the landscape of documentation in early childhood settings involves unnecessary entanglements, with the result that rigidity, rules and inherited ways become barriers to participation. Welcoming a conversation about these tensions, Documenting Children’s Learning disrupts the myths that may hold back educators in their practice. More than that, it shows how to use documentation in ways that help turn its wonderful potential into the welcome reality of making children’s capability visible. With this resource, you can shift beyond technical discussions about documentation and delve deeper into pedagogical approaches that support communicating ideas, thinking and theories to celebrate the capable child. The comprehensive and wide-ranging real-life examples throughout this book will both inspire you and point to alternative ways of engaging documentation in your setting.
Features: This book:
- Uncovers and untangles the misunderstandings, myths and tensions about documentation requirements that persist in early childhood settings
- Supports settings and educators to create cultures that have meaningful, authentic and rigorous documentation while also being realistic in their expectations
- Draws from and links with core curriculum documents e.g. Australia’s Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF, 2022) and New Zealand’s Te Whāriki (2017)
- Is enriched by the authors’ depth and breadth of experience of the early childhood sector and the diverse input of many educators they have worked with.
About the Authors:
Kelly Goodsir is the managing director of KGlearning which is a company that focuses on improving pedagogical practice through strategic educational change in early childhood education. Kelly first trained as a teacher in New Zealand and when she relocated to Australia in 2003 has engaged in various roles including teaching, consulting, pedagogical leadership, NCAC Validator for quality assurance and conference presenter. Kelly is a published author of a children’s book My Family is a Team: a story about mental illness (2016) along with numerous other resources supporting teacher conversations in early childhood education.
Anne Houghton has been involved in early childhood education for over forty years with various diverse roles and experiences. She worked as a kindergarten teacher for 32 years, then held various roles at Gowrie Victoria. These included working as a Kindergarten Cluster Management Coordinator, an Early Childhood Consultant in Resources and Advice, Trainer and Assessor of Diploma and Certificate 3 in Children’s Services and Professional Development Presenter. Anne now works as a sessional lecturer in the School of Education at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) and as a presenter for Play Australia.
