Power of Documentation

Documentation is a sophisticated approach to purposefully using the environment to explain the history of projects and the center community. It does not simply refer to the beautiful classroom artwork commonly found throughout centers following the Reggio Emilia Approach.

 

And, even though it often incorporates concrete examples of both the processes and products that are part of a child's education, it is more than just that. It is a fundamental way of building connections.

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Observation is the beginning of documentation. The observation process can take place in many ways from anecdotal notes to a tape recorded conversation, from children's work samples and photographs to a video recording of morning meeting. Different situations call for different methods of observations and often times more than one method of observation are warranted.

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During the observation process, it is important to refrain from any analyzation. Remaining as factual as possible will allow for a thorough review and interpretation at a later time. There are many ways to consider observation.

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Perhaps you follow a single child around throughout work time, or maybe you station yourself somewhere in the classroom and record how the area is used.

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You might document the children's conversations at lunch every day for a week. A variety of observations will prove themselves important. Daily observation will reveal a wealth of information about students, their development and your work as a teacher.

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There are many purposes for documentation itself:

• It may be used for children to reflect on their own work, or on other children's work.

• It may be used by adults to hypothesize about where the children's work will go next or to document children's growth over time.

• It may be used by families to further understand and experience the work and exploration of their children or,

• It could even be used by the wider community to further understand children's learning or what is happening inside a particular school.

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The most important aspect to understand about documentation is that it is meant to make learning and thinking visible.

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Our primary goal is to document the work of our children and ourselves as professionals in a way that reflects the process of learning and thinking in our center as authentically and thoughtfully as possible.

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It is because of the Reggio inspired approach that teachers are able to check off many boxes throughout a project showing each child's learning. Posting standards on the documentation throughout an investigation helps to identify what, as well as how standards are being met.