Examination the contributions of pedagogical documentation on family involvement in early childhood education

In this study, the contribution of pedagogical documentation to family participation in early childhood education is researched. The research has been formed as an action research using qualified research techniques together. The research group of the study in the class of the researcher who works in the private kindergarten of Turkish Ministry of National Education in Yenişehir province of Mersin in the fall semester of 2016-2017, consists of 12 children who are 60-72 months and their 12 mothers participating in the research voluntarily. In the general process of the research, parents and children have participated together and stated that they evaluate together. During the fall semester of the 2016-2017 period the pedagogical documentation has been applied to the class of researchers. When the findings obtained from the analysis have been analyzed, it is concluded that pedagogical documentation process contributes to family participation in a positive way. The study revealed that the learning process is visible through the panels, bulletins and portfolios applied during the pedagogical documentation process, and that participant families had more detailed knowledge of early childhood education. Parents expressed their knowledge of how children can have detailed information about what is given and how they can deal with their children at home, thanks to pedagogical documentation tools. Through the pedagogical documentation, parents expressed that children are sharing more about school at home. It is also the result that families start to make more various definitions of family involvement that they refer to as activity only in class.