demonstrate that what t e\ o anonymity and invisibili1y, " . I" and can emerge rom . d· they discover that they ex1s . . rtant is listened to , and is appreciate . seeing that what lhey say and do ,s impo , it is n va lue. . . ourself and with whoever enters into t_his so~ his like having an inte

cloud from a n external point of view w hile they arc learnin g (both during and after the process). A broad range o f documentation (videos, tape recordings. written notes, and so o n) ~roduccd and used in process (that is, durin g the experience) offers the following advantages: • lt make_s v is ible (th oug h in a partiaJ way. and thus " partisan") the nature of the learning processes and strategies used by each child , and makes the subjective and intersubjective processes a commo n patrimony. • lt_cnables reading, revisiting, and assessment in time and in space, and these actions become a n i.ntegraJ part of th e know ledge-building process. Documentation can modify learning fro m an episte mological point of view (e na bling epistemological assessme nt and self-assessme nl. which become an integral part of the process in that they guide a nd orient the process itself). • It seems to be essential for metacognitive processes and for the understanding o f c hildre n and adults. In re la tion to recent studies that increasing ly hig hlight the ro le of memory in the learning a nd identity-forming processes. we cou ld hypothesize that s ignificant reinforcement can be offered to the me mory by the images (pho tographs and video), ~he voices, and the notatio ns. Likewise the reflexive aspect (fostered by the '·re-cognition" that takes place through use of the findings) and the capacit~ for concentratio n a nd interpretation cou ld benefit from this memory-e nhanc mg material. This is only a s upposition. but in my view it deserves to be confronted and discussed. In this moveme nt . which I would define as a spiral as it weaves together the observation, the interpre tation. and the documentation, we can clearly see how none o f these actions can actually be separated or removed from the others. Any separatio n would be a rtific ial and merely for th e sake of argume nt. Rathe r, I would ta lk about domina nce in th e adult's level o f awareness a nd conseque ntly o f action. It is impossible, in fact. to docume nt without o bservin g a nd, obvious ly, interpreting. By means of documenting, th e thinking-or th e interpretation-of th e ~ocumenter thus becomes ma teria l, that is, tangible a nd capable of bein g interpre ted. The notes. the recordings, the slides and pho1og raphs represent fragments of a me mo ry th at seems thereby to become ·'objective." While each frag ment is imbued with the subjectivity of th e documente r, it is offered to the interpretive s ubjectivity of others in o·rder to be known or reknown. created and recreated. a lso as a collective knowledge-building even!. The result 1s knowledge that is bountiful and e nric hed by the contributio ns of 84 Docw.menbtlon ■nd Aun.sment: What Is the Relationship? In these fragments ( images. words, s igns, a nd drawings) there is th e ~al which took place

e have to convince ourselves that expressive competencies grow and mature their languages near and far from home, and that children discover with us the friendliness of actions, of languages, of thoughts and meanings. We have to convince ourselves that it is essential to preserve in children (and in ourselves) the feeling of wonder and surprise, because creativity, like knowledge, is a daughter of surprise

It is impossible, in fact, to document without ob erving and interpret-ing. By means of documenting, the thinking or the interpretation of the documenter becomes tangible and capable of being interpreted.

Sharing theories is a response to uncertainty. T

“I am convinced that there is some kind of pleasure in try-ing to agree about how to do things” (

hey have evolved together a shared discourse, a coherent way of thinking and talking about the role of the teacher inside and outside the classroom, based—as are all aspects of their organization, environmental design, pedagogy, and curricu-lum—on an explicit philosophy about the nature of children as learners—young human beings who are learning and developing in reciprocity with peers, close adults, and their community—as well as about their educational values, focused on the search for truth and beauty in everyday life (

but rarely mark other hallmarks in communication, such as the first time a child points to request an object or represents something by imitating it, for example, flapping her or his arms to signify a bird

It is also important for the teachers to enjoy beingwith the other teachers, to enjoy seeing the childrenstretch their capacities and use their intelligences, toenjoy interactions with the children. Both parts a

One way to paytribute to Loris Malaguzzi is to listen to his words:“Our goal is to build an amiable school, wherechildren, teachers and families feel at home. Such aschool requires careful thinking and planning con-cerning procedures, motivations and interests. Itmust embody ways of getting along together, ofintensifying relationships.”Edwards, Gandini, and Forman (editors),The Hundred Languages of Children (Norw

The teacher has to be the author of a play,someone who thinks ahead of time. Teachers alsoneed to be the main actors in the play, the protago-nists. The teacher must forget all the lines he knewbefore and invent the ones he doesn’t remember.Teachers also have to take the role of the prompter,the one who gives the cues to the actors. Teachersneed to be set designers who create the environmentin which activities take place.

Theyare trying to understand what friendship is. Ch

All of this changes the role of the teacher, a role thatbecomes much more difficult and complex. It alsomakes

When you playbilliards you push the ball with a certain force and ithits the table and bounces off; there’s a definite waythe ball will go, depending on force and direction.Children are not at all like this, predictable.

Whenwe think about a child, when we pull out a child tolook at, that child is already tightly connected andlinked to a certain reality of the world — she hasrelationships and experiences. We cannot separatethis child from a particular reality. She brings thes

literally groups of parents built them with their ownhands at the end of World War II. The first school was built with proceeds fromthe sale of a tank, some trucks, and a few horses left behind by the retreatingGerman army.