"Men så kan man ju också tänka!". Pedagogisk dokumentation som förändringsverktyg i förskolan.

The purpose of this study is to understand the correlation between pedagogical documentation and learning and change at daycare centres (förskola) in Sweden at daycare centres in which pedagogical documentation has been used as a tool for 10-15 years.

The study concludes that merely formulating new thoughts and ideas about documentation work is not enough; ideas and new actions must be tested in practice, so that contrasts can arise and become visible and the institution can experience a need to carry out structural changes.

The study shows that pedagogical documentation can be used as a tool to change the pedagogical work at daycare centres. In the daycare centres studied, work with pedagogical documentation has led to discussions about epistemological issues (i.e. methods to acknowledge or understand knowledge) and ontological issues (i.e. how something exists or appears) for the daycare-centre staff. These may be discussions about how the staff perceive and understand learning and knowledge. The discussions have led to changes in the pedagogical practices of the daycare-centre staff, as contrasts in the organisation and the way in which the staff perceive the pedagogical work have been brought to light. For instance, whether large or small groups of children work best, and whether emphasis should be on planned activities or an explorative approach. In order to overcome these contrasts, the organisation of daycare centres has changed over time, both for the centre as a whole and for the children.

The data material is based on a qualitative research design. The empirical material was collected in four daycare centres working in a project (the ”Ljuspunktprojektet” project) launched by the Reggio Emilia Institute at which pedagogical documentation is a key element. The data collection began at the same time as the Ljuspunktprojektet. The data was collected in connection with network meetings, reference group meetings and working meetings. In addition, nine project participants were interviewed. The analysis is divided into three parts. The first part is a descriptive analysis which divides the material into three topics (organisational change, documentation work, organisation). The second part of the analysis analyses the empiricism on the basis of Engström's activity theory, whereas the third part is analysed on the basis of Wartofsky's theory on primary, secondary and tertiary artefacts.

Alnervik, K. (2013). "Men så kan man ju också tänka!". Pedagogisk dokumentation som förändringsverktyg i förskolan. Högskolan för lärande och kommunikation, Jönköping.