ABSTRACT
This chapter explores example approaches to assessment and documentation. It discusses ‘assessment’ broadly, where any interaction can lead to a judgement, which can then be used for a variety of purposes. Assessment has become an emotive subject in the Early Years, with some arguing for an increased formalisation of ‘baseline’ measures, which identify a child’s current attainment to use for later comparison. The phrase ‘documentation of learning’ is increasingly used as an umbrella term for a repertoire of formative assessment recording processes in the Early Years. Documentation processes–such as the development of learning stories, which value dialogue in order to ‘make learning visible’, and the promotion of meta-cognitive reflection through the co-construction of meaning–can be used as powerful facilitators in this process. Children’s early learning in the domain of science begins with exploration that is experiential in nature and often situated in a play context.
