The use of unconventional materials in infant toddler centers: educators' ideas about the context and children's play

In this paper we present the preliminary results of an action research project (Lichtman, 2011; Savin-Baden & Howell Major, 2010) conducted at two infant toddler centres in an urban area of Northern Italy. The research took place in the context of an in-service training programme with educational staff at the two centres. Children between the ages of 8 months and 3 years were observed in order to identify the ways in which they made use of highly informal and unstructured materials such as industrial waste products (Guerra, 2013; Guerra & Zuccoli, 2012). In parallel, the educators were guided to reflect on the opportunities offered by such materials and on how the play environments and materials traditionally offered to younger children could be modified to avail of this potential. The educators’ representations and reflections were documented using narrative instruments and photographic images, while the children’s explorations and play were observed via video-recording. The visual documentation instruments (Goldman, Pea, Barron & Derry, 2007), that is to say, the video footage and photographs, played a vital role in encouraging the educators to review their existing educational beliefs and in setting off processes of change. The paper examines the role played by these instruments in the action research process and reports our preliminary reflections on various aspects of the use of unconventional materials in infant toddler centres