Listening to Children

This paper reports on a segment of Ph.D. research which was undertaken to develop participatory pedagogy working specifically within a praxeological paradigm [Oliveira-Formosinho, J., and J. Formosinho. 2012a. “Praxeological Research in Early Childhood: a Contribution to a Social Science of the Social.” European Early Childhood Education Research Journal 20 (4): 471–476; Pascal, C., and T. Bertram. 2012. “Praxis, Ethics and Power: Developing Praxeology as a Participatory Paradigm for Early Childhood Research.” European Early Childhood Education Research Journal 20 (4): 477–492]. It focuses on the development of listening practices through a process of pedagogic mediation [Oliveira-Formosinho, J., and J. Formosinho. 2012b. Pedagogy-in Participation: Childhood Association Educational Perspective. Porto: Childhood association and Porto Editoria]. The research was carried over two academic years in a private day care setting in England and aimed to enhance pedagogic practice with three and four-year olds. This qualitative methodology encompassed ethnographic techniques to develop a case study [Stake, R. 1995. The Art of Case Study Research. London: Sage]. It researched the development of participatory practice through pedagogic mediation, as developed by the Childhood Association, Portugal (Oliveira-Formosinho and Formosinho 2012b). This paper reports on two listening methods which were developed between researcher, practitioner and the children in the setting. These methods demonstrate the co-constructed participatory pedagogy and the isomorphic nature of learning [Formosinho, J., and J. Formosinho. 2016. “The Search for a Holistic Approach.” In Assessment and Evaluation for Transformation in Early Childhood, edited by J. Formosinho, and C. Pascal, 93–106. London: Routledge].