At Rosey Pot Kindergarten, educators position themselves as researchers of children’s learning, recognising that every interaction, conversation, and creation offers insight into how children construct knowledge. Documentation is understood as both a pedagogical act and an interpretive art form — a method for rendering visible the complex and relational processes of thinking, imagination, and discovery that occur in early learning contexts (Malaguzzi, 1998).

Documentation serves as an evolving narrative of children’s ideas, hypotheses, and relationships. Rather than a linear record of events, it represents a dynamic process of interpretation, a means of exploring the why and how of learning. Through systematic observation, collaborative dialogue, and critical reflection, educators co-construct meaning with children, generating a layered understanding that honours each child’s agency, perspective, and multiple ways of knowing (Rinaldi, 2006).

This pedagogical practice invites educators to engage in what Rinaldi (2006) describes as listening as research, an intentional stance of curiosity, empathy, and respect that extends beyond hearing words to perceiving gestures, silences, and the unspoken languages of expression. Each photograph, transcript, drawing, or written note becomes a fragment of a broader narrative, collectively shaping a living portrait of learning that is rich, nuanced, and multidimensional.

Through this interpretive process, educators engage in pedagogical documentation — a form of research that makes visible the relational and intellectual dimensions of children’s learning. Learning is seen as a co-constructed and provisional act, shaped through dialogue, reflection, and shared meaning-making among children, educators, and families. Documentation thus functions simultaneously as a mirror and a window — reflecting the wonder, curiosity, and affective dimensions of the present moment, while offering an interpretive lens into the evolving processes of inquiry, imagination, and growth (Department of Education, 2022; Rinaldi, 2006).