Documenting Children's Learning

Name: Documenting Children's Learning
SKU: TS0322
Price: 56.95 AUD
Availability: InStock
ISBN: 9781922530752

Disrupting the myths

Documenting Children's Learning disrupts the myths that have too often held back educators in their documentation and assessment practice. Instead, it shows how meaningful documentation in early childhood education can make children's capabilities visible and accessible.

The authors have been influenced by the curriculum frameworks, Te Whāriki and the Early Years Learning Framework. The resource shares diverse examples of planning, observation, documentation and assessment - such as what pedagogical documentation looks like in practice or how to reflect on your practice in the planning cycle.

The aim is to inspire educators to delve deeper into pedagogical approaches that support their children and communities.

Ages: 0-5 | Pages: 96 | Code: TS0322 | ISBN: 9781922530752

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Kelly Goodsir

Kelly Goodsir is the managing director of www.kglearning.com.au / 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

Anne Houghton has worked in early childhood education for five decades. Her roles include diverse experiences as a kindergarten teacher, kindergarten cluster management coordinator, consultant, trainer and assessor, professional development presenter and university lecturer for teacher education programs. Anne has had inspiring experiences presenting at conferences in Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii, Japan and Malaysia. She has also worked as a casual research assistant in mentoring projects with the Bastow Institute and the University of Melbourne.

Anne is also a published author of There Stood Our Dog, a children’s story book, illustrated by Craig Smith and co-author with Joanna Cooper of Engaging Families in Your Early Childhood Services, Learning Environments: Inspiring Spaces and Visible Learning in Family Day Care funded through the Community Childcare Association of Victoria. Anne’s recent publications by Essential Resources include Intentional Teaching: Promoting Purposeful Practice in Early Childhood Settings, 2nd edn, (2024) and Documenting Children’s Learning: Disrupting the Myths (2023), co-authored with Kelly Goodsir.

Anne also shares her expertise through two practical, self-paced online courses designed for early childhood educators:

Cultural and Social Inclusion supports educators to create welcoming, respectful environments for children and families from diverse cultural backgrounds.

Building Social and Emotional Skills and Wellbeing focuses on fostering resilience, emotional regulation and a strong sense of self in young children.

Each course includes four engaging online modules and four high-quality book resources, helping educators reflect on and strengthen their practice. Whether you’re looking to refresh your knowledge or deepen your impact, these courses offer flexible, relevant professional learning aligned with early years frameworks for both the EYLF and the VEYLDF.

Click here to explore all of Anne's Early Childhood professional development courses.

Contents
Introduction	4
1. Observation, assessment, documentation	6
Observation begins with listening	6
Why observations matter	8
Observation methods	10
Documentation	17
Assessment	18
Disrupting the myths	22
Reflective questions	22
2. Theories and perspectives	23
The planning cycle informs our practice	23
Theories and perspectives within the frameworks	26
Reggio Emilia educational project	30
Projects that emphasise the child's ideas	31
Importance of philosophical values from play-based perspectives	32
play-based perspectives	32
Disrupting the myths	32
Reflective questions	32
3. Regulations and curriculum frameworks	33
Regulatory requirements	33
The Early Years Learning Framework	33
Current policies in Australia	34
Current policies in New Zealand	35
Disrupting the myths	36
Reflective questions	36
4. The role of the educator	37
Establishing relationships with children	37
Being a reflective educator	38
Everyday routines as rich learning opportunities for documenting	40
Planning that supports holistic learning and development for documenting	41
The role of the educational leader	43
Disrupting the myths	44
Reflective questions	44
5. Collaborative partnerships	45
Beyond participation to partnerships	45
Engaging parents in conversation	45
Impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic	46
A transforming approach to partnerships	47
Consulting with children	48
Agreement or rules?	52
Collaborating as teams	57
Collaborating with other professionals	58
Disrupting the myths	58
Reflective questions	58
6. Planning outside the box	59
Moving beyond templates	59
Fixed displays or living displays?	60
Disrupting the myths	64
Reflective questions	64
7. Communicating the learning	65
Documenting with an audience in mind	65
An environment for documenting with children	65
Ethics and consent	67
Communicating the learning to parents	67
Snapshots of children's learning	67
Professionalism and documentation	68
Disrupting the myths	70
Reflective questions	70
8. Educators as activists and researchers	71
Using an inquiry approach	71
Educators as researchers	74
Educators as activists	75
Pedagogical documentation as a risky business	76
Documenting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives	76
Disrupting the myths	76
Reflective questions	76
9. Leading change	77
Pedagogical leadership and documentation	77
Effective communication	78
Reflecting on common challenges	78
Strategies for leading change with documentation	79
Disrupting the myths	80
Reflective questions	80
Conclusion	81
References and resources	82
Appendix 1: The planning cycle informs practice	86
Appendix 2: Learning story framework	90
Appendix 3: Parent questionnaire	91
Appendix 4: Parent feedback form	92
Appendix 5: All about me template	93
Appendix 6: Key words to document learning	94
Appendix 7: Emotional intelligence	96