Pedagogical documentation and action-research processes as strategies for high-quality Early Childhood Education Teaching. A case study in Spain

Pedagogical documentation is a strategy that comes from Loris Malaguzzi’s legacy, allowing for the emergence of a new image of children and childhood. This paper refers to a qualitative study carried out in an innovative Practicum within the Degree in Early Childhood Education (ECE) Teaching which has a focus in the implementation of participatory pedagogies. Findings are based on the analysis of pedagogical documentation produced by student teachers and interviews with in-service teachers, advisors, and university faculty. The most salient findings reveal that the use of pedagogical documentation in an early years’ setting enables teachers’ collaborative reflection on and about their practice. Among the implications derived from this study, it sheds light on how pedagogical documentation can support practitioners in taking part in processes of reflection on their own practice thus rethinking the way they face the everyday challenges at the school and classroom level in early years educational contexts.