Documentation typically includes samples of the children’s work, photographs of the children engaged in the project work, and comments and transcripts of conversations. Examples of the children’s work and reflections on processes can be displayed in the classrooms.

Simply, Pedagogical Documentation is observing for example children’s play, projects, discussions, ideas and inventions via taking photos, making notes, writing down explanations as well as tricky questions, saving artwork, videoing action, recording voice…and using all the documents purposefully.

Documentation panels including photographs, teacher’s notes, transcriptions, and artifacts, artfully and prominently displayed, serve as a visual archive of children’s learning (Helm, Beneke, & Steinheimer, 1998. and Steinheimer, K. 1998.

Documentation panels are curated displays that allow an educator or provider to capture a child’s learning through visuals and language. They offer context for an activity or experience by showing artifacts of children’s work.

Pedagogical documentation is an examination of the learning taking place in children and supports reflective practice and decision-making in teachers. Pedagogical documentation is a powerful tool for communicating a child’s learning to families.

Documentation boards use observations and assessments to illustrate a child’s process of learning. When done correctly, teachers and families should be able to follow a child’s progress over time. Documentation Boards help teachers and families understand, without explanation, the child’s abilities and Interests.

Simple documentation examples include:

1. Classroom photo albums.
2. Individual child portfolios.
3. Student art displays.
4. Classroom newsletters and notes from the teacher.
5. Time-lapse videos of the learning process.

When expected to provide evidence that children are meeting learning standards, documentation is a natural way to make learning visible. Collaboration also helps build a classroom community, which is important because it engages teachers, parents, and children in thinking about the process of learning.

Pedagogical documentation is an important part of the kindergarten curriculum that directly impacts student learning. As a result, it should be ongoing, and as educators we should continually be engaging in self-reflection and professional development to further our ability to capture each child’s unique learning.

Documentation panels should be put up in the classroom to allow the students to view and respond to a highlighted learning experience. Teaching teams can listen to their students’ reactions and responses, and develop instruction around what they hear their students expressing interest and

Thus, pedagogical documentation is documentation that is about the study of educator teaching practices. Documentation in this sense is embedded in the learning process of educators and children (Dahlberg, Moss & Pence, 1999) as it not only documents the learning but becomes a part of the learning.

The Reggio Documentation Panels seek to answer two central questions about the student learning experience in an arts- integrated classroom: 2) How did this happen? classroom, showing the rest of the learning community (other teachers, students, administrators, parents, etc.) the thinking processes that are happening in the classroom.

It is also linked to the Reggio Emilia Approach… where documentation is collected, analysed, discussed, reflected on, used to plan, returned to, more collecting of data as needed etc… so that the educator is learning from the child, to become better at facilitating the children’s learning…