The professional actuation of pedagogical documentation in Belgian and Finnish early childhood education settings.

The advantage of pedagogical documentation has been widely documented in the field of early childhood education and care (ECEC). However, little research points out how and why professionals are using pedagogical documentation from the staff's perspective itself. Therefore, this research aimed to examine how pedagogical documentation is employed in their professional practice. The data for this descriptive qualitative study were collected by interviewing 56 ECEC professionals (heads of organizations, teachers and child minders) after their informed consent. Three purposes in using pedagogical documentation were detected: 1/ to demonstrate facts and growth, 2/ to provoke further thinking; 3/ to facilitate adult–child interaction and interaction among adults. These uses were directed at children, parents, professionals, the neighbourhood, and the interactions across these groups. The results show that staff uses pedagogical documentation in multiple ways, but not often as a tool for professional development. This yields future perspectives to support reflective professional development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]