Abstract

Knowledge is described as facts, understanding, familiarity and skill which intertwines and affect each other. Knowledge as a concept has different meanings and when we speak about knowledge we have different perceptions. Varying documentational traditions and theories about children’s learning visualizes different ways to view children which affects how the child as a learning individual is portrayed in the documentation of the educator. To show the educators interpretation of children’s learning is seen as in order to answer the purpose of this study. 

The purpose of this study is to provide knowledge about how the concept of knowledge can be described as well as how the view of children is expressed in individual documentation. The study contributes to educators and managements reflection along with a joint view of what is displayed in the individual documentation in the spirit of the intentions of curriculum by highlighting current concepts and prescribed ways of working revolving around preschool educators.

Material collected from a Reggio Emilia inspired preschool has been processed through a qualitative content analysis. The material contains of five documents from children’s individual documentation. The theoretical framework is based on the educational philosophy of Reggio Emilia.

The result and conclusions of the study shows that children are described as individuals with abilities and competences but that the participation in the documentation is limited. Thus the study shows that children can be perceived as an object of the educators tasks.