Documentation and its dilemmas with multilingualism and toddlers

Background: The requirement for documentation and evaluation has increased markedly over the last five years in Swedish Early Childhood Education. Along with a clearer focus on learning, it has led to an interest directed at... [ view full abstract ]

Background: The requirement for documentation and evaluation has increased markedly over the last five years in Swedish Early Childhood Education. Along with a clearer focus on learning, it has led to an interest directed at the toddlers.  Difficulties arise thereby in efforts to make visible even the youngest children's development and learning, as they have yet to develop verbal language.

Purpose: This study describes and analyses the function of documentation in a multilingual preschool context, in the light of a stronger focus on the individual learning. The research question is; what contradictions and possible dilemmas become visible in the teachers actions surrounding documentation and planning? 

Method and Theoretical frame: The study is based on four voice recorded conversations, á 1.5 hours each, revolving around teachers reflections on their documentation. Two teams of teachers are involved. In addition to this, I have access to evaluation forms. The theoretical frame is cultural-historical activity theory where Engeström's (2014) graphic model is used to understand the teacher's actions in a broader context. In this theory contradictions and the collective effort to understand these contradictions and the problem they engender are seen as necessary for development.

Preliminary results: The teachers' assumptions are that documentation should be based on the children's meta-cognitive skills and verbal ability to express thoughts.The analysis reveals a palpable contradiction between following or guiding childrens' interests. This can be explained with a shift in intentions of policy, regarding care and learning. 

Keywords: documentation, multilingual, toddlers, cultural-historical activity theory, contradictions  

The presentation is a part of the Swedish National Research School and Relations as Foundations or Early Childhood Education (FoRFa), funded by the Swedish Research Council (grant no. 729-2013-6848).

Engeström, Yrjö.(2014). Learning by expanding: An activity-theoretical approach todevelopmental research (2^nd ed). Cambridge, UK: CambridgeUniversity Press.