Exhibits

Power of Documentation: Children's Learning Revealed

About the Exhibit

Look closely: children are discovering the world around them. Adults are following children’s interests. Together, they’re showing us the potential for learning that waits around every corner! Documentation reveals the learning that comes from young children’s active, engaged work and play.

Come visit this exhibit to see how teachers have collected, analyzed, and interpreted evidence of children’s learning. Explore how revealing this learning through documentation helps teachers, informs parents and demonstrates accountability throughout the community.

Early childhood educators will find the exhibit especially revealing and relevant.

There are five key areas explored in the exhibit: Assessment, Children's Work, Narratives, Observation, and Reflections. To see samples from the exhibit, click on one of the key areas at right.

What is documentation?

Documentation, in the education field, describes the process of gathering evidence of children’s learning through observation, work samples, conversation transcripts, and children’s and teachers’ reflections. This evidence is then analyzed, interpreted and shared. While high quality documentation may be displayed, a display does not necessarily constitute documentation. Rather, documentation is an ongoing process that entails discussion, teacher self-reflection and portfolio collections. Documentation can benefit all the important adults in children’s lives, and isinstrumental in cultivating a community of learners.

Why document children's work?

Educators document children’s work in order to:

• Share the value of active learning experiences.
• Determine the effectiveness of teaching strategies.
• Support the diverse ways children learn.
• Reliably assess children’s progress and meet accountability requirements.
• Involve families in their children's education.
• Encourage teacher self-reflection and professional growth.

How is children's work documented?

Educator's may document children's work by the following process:

• Gather tools, such as note paper, camera, folders, tape recorder.
• Select a learning experience to document.
• Plan the documentation process. For example, learning in the block area might be documented with photographs, note-taking and sketches of the structures children build.
• Conduct the documentation.
• Review the documentation with colleagues. What do you see? What did you learn?
• Share documentation through displays or written narratives.
• Read, learn and share.

The Power of Documentation is sponsored in Ft. Lauderdale by the Early Learning Coalition of Broward County, Family Central, Inc., and the Mailman Segal Institute for Early Childhood Studies at NSU.

The exhibit was developed and designed by Chicago Children’s Museum, Chicago Metro Association for the Education of Young Children, and Judy Harris Helm, Best Practices, Inc. It has been a catalyst for positive change in organizations and communities while serving as the focus of professional development events around the country.

For more information about The Power of Documentation exhibit and related programming, please contact the Family Center at 954-262-6934.