Pedagogical documentation as 'agora': why it may be viewed as a form of citizenship for children, parents and communities.

Play remains the principal experience through which the child learns to know itself, others and the world; it is educational experience which may be directed and structured to varying degrees. To understand this complexity, pedagogical documentation can make a key contribution if it is understood as practice that allows us to bring to light not only what goes on in educational settings – recording action – but also the theoretical ideas informing experience. This chapter explores the conditions and methods required for pedagogical documentation to be effective in enabling early childhood education and care sites to become points of reference on childhood for the entire community. The chapter – from an Italian perspective – focuses on the role of pedagogical documentation as an ‘agora’ (meeting place) in which different voices – those of children, teachers, families and the broader community – are included to guarantee a form of citizenship education for all the actors around the meanings of ‘play’.