Documentation and Inquiry in the Early Childhood Classroom: Research Stories from Urban Centers and Schools

Documentation and Inquiry in the Early Childhood Classroom explores teacher inquiry, reflection, and research and the documentation of these processes within a variety of school sites and models. Compiling underrepresented inquiry stories from practicing teachers and administrators in early childhood (0–5) classrooms in the San Francisco Bay Area, this book highlights the power of the community in supporting professional development for early childhood educators and the education of young children. Important elements addressed include teacher learning, children’s curricula, parent and community communication, and equity and social justice for teachers, children, and families.

Table of Contents:
1. Teacher Inquiry, Research and Pedagogical Documentation 2. of Learning: Inquiry as a Form of Resistance at a Spanish Immersion Preschool 4. Learning About Inquiry by Investigating Fish: Mission Head Start Valencia Gardens 5. Zaida T. Rodriquez Early Education School — "Telling a Story on the Walls" 6. Stretch the Imagination 7: Las Americas Early Education School — The Power of a Long-Term Inquiry Group for Educational Transformation 8. Learning Stories as a Tool for Supporting Beginning Teachers’ Inquiry 9. Critical Self Reflection: Exploring Racial Identity with Early Childhood Educators 10. Teacher Professional Development in an Urban School District 11. Leadership and Inquiry at a Parent Cooperative Preschool 12. Alegria Migrant and Seasonal Head Start Center: The Role of Documentation in Research for Professional Learning 13. The Discovery School — Reflection and Inquiry at a Museum-Based Preschool 14. George Miller III Children’s Center — Inquiry and Reflection at a Large Urban Head Start Center 15. Aquatic Park School: Schoolwide Inquiry as a Vehicle for Cultivating a Democratic Learning Community 16. Early Childhood Education Policy Context in California

About the Author :
Linda R. Kroll is Professor of Education in the School of Education at Mills College, USA. Daniel R. Meier is Professor of Elementary Education at San Francisco State University, USA.

Review :
"Documentation and Inquiry in the Early Childhood Classroom is destined to become a classic in the field. The book represents an extraordinary qualitative leap in the long tradition of early childhood educators paying close attention to the actions of young children. Drawing from the best recent research around practitioner inquiry, self-study, and documentation, and bringing in the voices of practitioners who are immersed in studying their work, the book offers teachers, researchers, administrators and policy-makers powerful lenses for understanding the complexity of the early childhood classroom. It is so clear, well organized, and relevant that it could easily be used across the grades with teachers at every level contributing their research to enable a growing understanding of the relationship between policy and practice." —Frances Rust, Scholar in Residence at the Metropolitan Center for Research on Equity and the Transformation of Schools, NYU Metro Center, USA