Three learning approaches which could support the development of pre-schoolers' agency required elements of participation, listening and respect for pre-schoolers’
unique and diverse voice as directional. The following learning approaches further informed this study.
2.7.1 Vygotsky's co-constructivist learning to develop agency
Vygotsky's theory states that pre-schoolers’ cognitive development takes place through social interactions. Vygotsky formulated the zone of proximal development, which is the distance between the levels of children's capacities and their levels of potential development attainable with the help of adults or advanced peers (Gandini, 2012:58). Within this zone the child is actively engaged in the learning process and is guided by the practitioner who acts as participant in the learning process. The practitioner structures the learning activity, offers helpful hints or instructions according to the child's interest and current capabilities, but gradually allows the child to become more competent (Shaffer, 1996:276).
In the light of Vygotsky's theory, I postulate that the development of agency and well-being occurs when pre-schoolers are engaged in projects and activities by participating with others. Pre-schoolers then make meaning of their experiences.
When pre-schoolers begin to talk about what they have drawn, made or constructed, they begin to organise their actions, perceptions and experiences. Practitioner listens and encourages them to think further, discover and explore according to their capabilities, and assists where necessary so that meaningful experiences can occur.
Practitioners then document and interpret what pre-schoolers said or did, and thus make pre-schoolers’ thinking visible. The pedagogical tool of documentation occurs within the Framework of Vygotsky's co-constructivism and is thus an important learning theory to consider in this study.
2.7.2 The tool of pedagogical documentation
Dahlberg et al., (2013:152–153) explains that the socially constructed character of knowledge treats all pedagogical activities as social constructions by adults and children. Pedagogical documentation offers practitioners the possibility of searching
for new ways in which pre-schoolers can be represented and can challenge fixed norms and ways of understanding of their practices. This challenges the discourses of predetermined truth which influence the way practitioners think about themselves, pre-schoolers and their practices. Pedagogical documentation calls on practitioners to be self-reflective and to engage with their colleagues to create a platform for lively and critical discussion about their practice and what is needed. In this study, the tool of pedagogical documentation was used to show how pre-schoolers’ thoughts, ideas and theories were expressed through four art projects.
Dahlberg et al., (2013:153–164) explain the tool of pedagogical documentation as follows:
It is about trying to see and understand what is going on in practice and what pre-schoolers are capable of without any predetermined framework of expectations or norms.
It is a process of visualisation which does not represent true reality or a direct representation of what the pre-schooler says and does. It is not a true account of what happens during the activity or project.
It is a social construct where practitioners, through their selection of what is valuable to document, are also co-constructivist participants.
It is produced in acts of interpretation of what pre-schoolers are thinking, doing and saying.
It is contextual, selective and partial to what pre-schoolers are expressing.
It is about choosing multiple perspectives, uncertainties and ambiguities.
It is a story about how practitioners have viewed pre-schoolers and themselves as practitioners.
It is a way in which practitioners can see how they relate to pre-schoolers.
It is part of the daily activities in the classroom and part of theoretical understandings of what practitioners know about pre-schoolers.
It is a practice for resisting power and control by asking critical self-reflective questions about what right practitioners have to interpret and document pre-schoolers' doings and what is ethically legitimate.
Pedagogical documentation as a learning process means that practitioners listen to pre-schoolers' perspectives, hypotheses and theories. Practitioners focus on a more systematic way of how children learn and make meaning of their learning experiences, as well as their own way of challenging pre-schoolers’ learning processes through the
process of documentation. The practitioner asks questions such as: What interests the pre-schooler the most? What kind of theories does the pre-schooler have? How can I challenge the theories? How can I deepen the pre-schoolers’ knowledge by lengthening the activity? How should the work continue? (Dahlberg et al., 2013:157).
I consider that using the tool of pedagogical documentation can make pre-schoolers’
agency visible. It can empower practitioners and inform their practice. It can further enhance the relationship between the pre-schooler and the practitioner. By documenting practitioners must listen attentively to the pre-schooler's perspectives, ideas and theories, and interpret them.
2.7.3 The link between Vygotsky's co-constructivist learning theory, the of pedagogical documentation and the learning for well-being process approach
Vygotsky's co-constructivist learning theory, the tool of pedagogical documentation, and the learning for well-being process encourage teaching and learning that occurs in partnership between practitioners and pre-schoolers. All three approaches value the unique and diverse capacities, perspectives and contributions pre-schoolers contribute to their learning experiences. Within these approaches pre-schoolers are deemed competent as social actors who influence and experience their environments and express themselves within them.
Through learning for well-being pre-schoolers realise their unique potential. The process encourages them to express their diverse perspectives in multiple ways. Their holistic development is enhanced and they learn life skills such as decision-making and respect. The process further fosters strong bonds between practitioners and pre-schoolers as they participate and learn together (O'Toole, 2014:28).
Furthermore, the learning for well-being process involves pre-schoolers' self-directed learning in partnership with others; focusing on their holistic development and valuing their individual learning processes and needs; and understanding learning to be an inherently social activity. The core capacities cultivated through the learning for well-being process are also evident in the use of the tool of pedagogical documentation (i.e. listening, paying attention, critical thinking, subtle sensing). In order to document, the practitioner needs to pay attention to what pre-schoolers are saying and doing;
they need to read between the lines and critically reflect upon their understanding of
pre-schoolers’ thinking. Practitioners need to use their intuition and imagination.
Learning for well-being as conceptualised in this study takes the elements of Vygotsky's co-constructivist learning theory, the pedagogical tool of documentation, and the learning for well-being process into account.
The recommendations for developing a training programme framework for practitioners thus incorporate elements from the frameworks and educational approach discussed in this study. The development of agency occurs in environments where pre-schoolers play and spend most of their time – the early childhood centre and the city. I thus reviewed two perspectives of place which understood these places as living systems. I used them as themes to provide evidence of the expression of pre-schoolers’ agency. Pre-schoolers had to draw pictures of their school and a route map of their city, make clay statues for their city and do a project in which they initiated change.
2.8 TWO PERSPECTIVES OF THE INNER-CITY EARLY CHILDHOOD CENTRE