ABSTRACT
The relationship between Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) and competent staff is gaining more and more attention internationally. The most important changes that an ECEC centre supports are the ones that happen through the details of daily life. Pedagogical documentation is a crucial instrument in the perspective, because of its impact on valourizing differences, on supporting negotiation, on enriching individual and group reflection. Behind pedagogical documentation there is the idea of a rich child, competent, capable of being autonomous, of building his/her own relationships, of living the world in a creative way. The chapter shows how the link between pedagogical documentation and negotiation has been developed in some Italian and Belgian experiences that share the same philosophy. Many Italian studies underline the circular link between observation and documentation. More specifically, there is a circular relationship between planning, observing, evaluating and documenting.
