Week 10

Why is documenting important?

'Documenting refers to gathering and organizing information to provide a written or pictorial record of children's learning.' (MacNaughton & Williams 2009 p.296). As a pre-service teacher thinking back to my experiences at school I never knew what documents were for. I remember adding photos and writing about my experiences into a portfolio and I didn't know how this could help me with my learning. This weeks reading about 'Documenting' gave me a clear understanding on why it is important to implement it throughout learning.

Documents come in different forms such as a collection of children's work like a writing, drawing, painting etc. photographs, observations, mind maps as well as learning stories of children's play. Having documents helps make children's learning visible for educators as well as families. Children are also able to have the opportunity to revisit and reflect on their learning journey process. This helps educators to analyse children's understanding, dispositions and interests.

I think documentation is very important in the education system because it gives support to teaching and it also gives educators crucial information from which conceives goals, techniques and learning experiences for the children.

References:

MacNaughton, G & Williams, G 2009, Techniques for Teaching Young Children; Choices for Theory and Practice, 3^rd edn, Pearson Education Australia, NSW.