Children's Self-determination in the Context of Early Childhood Education and Services

Abstract

This chapter concerns the sociological observation of interactions in early childhood education. The observation of interactions is not necessarily a scientific activity , as it may also be useful for practical purposes. Starting from the historical experience of infant schools in Reggio Emilia (Edwards et al. 1998), this practice of observation has become important for purposes of teachers' training. Therefore, the observation of interactions can be used by both researchers and pedagogical coordinators of schools to research and comment on teachers' educational intentions and actions. From a sociological perspective, the observation of interactions can be based on the epistemological presupposition of social constructivism (e.g. Luhmann 1990), which describes the important difference between first and second order observation. While the first order observation posits what is observed as a fact, the second order observation concerns other observations, in particular the ways in which other observations are produced. The second order observation of educational interactions concerns both the meaning that is constructed (observed) in these interactions and the way in which it is constructed (observed). Against this background, two questions may be relevant to understand and explain how the second order observation can be accomplished in educational contexts. The first and basic question is: What can be observed and considered important in early childhood education from a second order perspective? The answer to this question requires the understanding of the difference between observations in