Comunicación/Educación: una historia de encuentros

The desire to make children’s learning visible through documentation in the form of learning stories, photographs, and other exemplars of children’s learning, for example, appeared to be the predominant driver for many early childhood teachers to enthusiastically engage with ICT (Oldridge, 2007; Ramsey, et al., 2006). This has been underpinned by an aspiration to build and strengthen responsive and reciprocal relationships with the children, families and

Several studies recently undertaken exemplify this approach (Anderson, et al., 2007; Erb, 2008; Hong & Trepanier-Street, 2004; Ramsey, et al., 2006). The teachers in this current study were actively aware of the increased possibilities for learning, when the teaching and learning community were able to participate more fully. The following quote illustrates this notion.

When you see something written down, and you see the photos in the portfolio and when the parents read it they think, “Oh, so that’s what’s happening here”; you increase the awareness of the possibilities of learning happening through the photographic documentation J. (Focus group 2).

Furthermore, the notion of making children’s learning visible has been stimulated somewhat by the Reggio Emilia approach to teaching and learning, (Edwards, Gandini & Forman, 1998; Hong & Trepanier-Street, 2004), combined with an deepening understanding and realisation of socio-cultural theory (Cowie & Carr, 2004).

The Reggio Emilia approach is founded upon a very powerful credit based image of children, where they are seen as competent and confident. But as Thornton and Brunton (2007) caution, “this powerful image of the child needs adults who listen to children and trust them to make responsible decisions” (p.11). These realisations, along with the vision statement in Te Whā_{riki (Ministry of Education,}

1996), have revealed new directions for practice and have contributed to changing perceptions about children’s competence and abilities, which has seen a significant impact in the early childhood education Aotearoa New Zealand context.

Additionally, by being more acutely aware of the mediums chosen, and the potential bias and interpretations this documentation may portray, the public nature of these traces of teaching and learning encouraged teachers to engage in discussion and analysis of both their own and the children’s learning. Rinaldi (1998) illustrates this notion in the following way.

The slides and the videos become occasions for intense daily communication and reflections. They [documentation] support the memory and the interactions for children, teachers, and parents-true mirrors of our own knowledge in which we see our own ideas and images reflected (p.121).

The increased visibility of children’s learning, however, can create potential risks if not monitored appropriately as suggested by the participants in this study. One participant told of her increased awareness of the implications of this visibility, when it was suggested that they as teachers document aspects of their own experiences to share with the children and their families. This caused this participant to critically reflect upon the ways in which they involved children in the documentation of their own learning. As Clark and Moss (2001) purport, “the visible child” may be more easily controlled than before (p.61). Although it appeared that the majority of participants in this study used ICT to support increasing the visibility of the learning that is happening for the children in the centre, as depicted in this quote:

ICT use supports effective learning for children. Visual documentation is meaningful for children and children can monitor and reflect on their own learning

(Questionnaire).

• The voice of the child

The competent and confident image of the child underpinned by Te Whāriki

(Ministry of Education, 1996) and expressed within the Reggio Emilia approach (Hong & Trepanier-Street, 2004; Thornton & Brunton, 2007) shaped how these teachers interacted with the children in their settings. Furthermore, Canella (1997) challenges teachers to find ways to hear the voices of the children we teach. These teachers attempted to do this by encouraging the children to actively participate in the utilisation of ICT. One example of this was the children using the digital cameras themselves to document their own learning rather than always being seen as the subject of the camera. Boardman’s (2007) study

promoted children’s reflective thinking but also, “facilitated reflective practices in the educator” (p.61).

By offering children these opportunities enabled them to become active agents in documenting their own perspectives of what is deemed as important, providing a way for children to visibly express and share their understandings of their experiences, rather than the adults making the decisions (Clark, 2005a). As the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Article 12) states, children have “the right to have a voice and be listened to and respected” (Carr, Jones & Lee, 2005: p. 142).ICT is considered to have the potential to provide purposeful ways for the sometimes invisible or unvoiced perspectives of children to be seen and heard (Boardman, 2007).

This notion was illustrated by a participant in my study, when describing how when a child took their own photograph of an event, they were able to capture more closely the learning episode under focus from the child’s own perspective (in this particular case tying their own shoelaces), rather than what the teacher involved may have considered valuable. Photography has been described as an important tool for listening to children, particularly those who may be denied a voice where written or oral responses may be favoured (Clark, 2005).

Additionally, using a digital camera was considered to promote children’s reflective thinking, whereby their prior experiences can be reviewed and replayed, enabling the children to reflect and revisit these experiences further (Boardman, 2007). The use of visuals is not intended, however, to exclude verbal communication, but rather to create increased opportunities for engagement and as a valuable site for multiple listening between children, peers, families and teachers, offering a visual language for children to read and interpret (Fasoli, 2003).

Moreover, according to Clark (2005a), “children’s photographs can bring the important details of the context of their everyday lives into the classroom [early

childhood context] and provide a visible platform for creating and exchanging meanings” (p.28). By children themselves making the decisions as to what to photograph or not, and setting their own goals, lessens the possibility of privileging the adults agenda, thus shifting the balance of power more in favor of children (Carr, et al., 2005).

It is crucial, therefore, that children and adults engage within these events to provide a context and interpretation of these images (Fasoli, 2003). By offering opportunities for young children to interact more closely with technology enabled them to develop a more critical understanding of using technology and the possibilities that these mediums can present. As one respondent explained, by engaging with children with these resources, encouraged children to become more informed and critical users. What's more as Siraj-Blatchford and Whitebread (2003) strongly assert, “for citizens (of any age) to make informed technological choices they must gain some understanding of the technologies that are available” (p.2).