The call for papers issued last year entitled Documentation, Diversity, Democracy – Three Interrelated Aspects of Early Years Education has resulted in this special issue. We would like to thank our two Guest Editors – Marjatta Kalliala from the University of Helsinki and Ingrid Pramling Samuelsson from the University of Gothenburg, both members of the journal’s Editorial Board – for their introduction to this issue.
The stated aim was to highlight current research on documentation policies and practices relating to child-focused assessment, centre-focused evaluation/quality improvement and community-focused participation. How is documentation used? Does documentation contribute to children’s learning and well-being? Does it lead to improved quality of provision in ECEC? What does documentation mean for children, early childhood practitioners and families? Has documentation become a catch-all term for a wide variety of approaches? The papers presented, which originate from Australia, Finland, Greece, Italy, Sweden and the UK (England), touch on all these key areas of research in different ways. Importantly, the question of what documentation may hide, rather than reveal, and the challenges faced by practitioners who may be expected to practise a form of documentation which is contrary to their pedagogical beliefs, come over as strong ethical issues.
In future we are planning to invite well-known authors in the early years field to present a book which has particularly inspired them during the course of their work. A Favourite Book is the title we have chosen, and the column will appear from time to time in the journal. The idea came from Marian Whitehead – a former Early Years editor and now a member of the current Editorial Board. We are delighted that Marian has agreed to be the first contributor to this series.