Two Approaches to Documenting and Evaluating Preschool Quality / Dva pristupa dokumentiranju i vrednovanju kvalitete predškolskih ustanova
Authors: Kovač Šebart Mojca , Hočevar Andreja 
Published: August 2023

Abstract The article presents preschool quality evaluation which is established in the Reggio Emilia pedagogical approach and which rejects evaluation on the basis of empirical data gathered through methodologically adequately prepared instruments. Such evaluation is supposed to be founded on universal norms formulated by experts, with quality being understood as the harmony of the services and practices measured by the norms. Through interpretations which use abstractions, categorizations and schemes, such quality evaluation is thought predominantly to classify and normalize (Dahlberg, Moss, & Pence, 2007). By contrast, preschool quality evaluation ought to build on the analyses and subjective interpretations of the documents that preschool teachers gather through their everyday documentation of the educational process and children's activities in preschools. It coherently follows the consideration which rejects a curriculum planned and structured in advance, as it is thought to follow goals, not children, thereby preventing children from being in the centre of the educational process. In the article we show that the evaluation of preschool quality which is based only on the presented subjective interpretation opens up a space for selective and partial considerations; quality evaluation - at least as far as the widespread network of public preschools in Slovenia is concerned - thus also needs to be implemented through suitably methodologically designed tools. Key words: documentation; evaluation; pedagogical approach Reggio Emilia; preschool education; quality; Slovenia.---Sažetak U članku je prikazano vrednovanje kvalitete predškolskih ustanova koje je utemeljeno unutar pedagoškog pristupa Reggio Emilia, a koje odbacuje vrednovanje na temelju empirijskih podataka prikupljenih s pomoću metodološki adekvatno pripremljenih instrumenata. Taj bi oblik vrednovanja trebao biti utemeljen na univerzalnim normama koje su oblikovali stručnjaci, pri čemu se pod kvalitetom podrazumijeva sklad usluga i prakse izmjerene prema određenim normama. Tumačenjem putem apstrakcija, kategorizacija i shema, od tog se oblika vrednovanja kvalitete ponajprije očekuje klasifikacija i normalizacija (Dahlberg, Moss, i Pence, 2007). Suprotno tomu, vrednovanje kvalitete predškolskih ustanova treba graditi na analizama i subjektivnim tumačenjima dokumenata koje odgojitelji prikupljaju u svakodnevnom dokumentiranju odgojno-obrazovnog procesa i dječjih aktivnosti u predškolskim ustanovama. Time se dosljedno prate razmišljanja koja odbacuju planirani i unaprijed strukturirani kurikul, budući da se smatra kako se na taj način prate ciljevi, a ne djeca, čime se djeci onemogućuje da budu u središtu odgojno-obrazovnog procesa. U članku ćemo pokazati da vrednovanje kvalitete predškolskih ustanova koje se temelji isključivo na iznesenim subjektivnim interpretacijama otvara prostor za selektivna i parcijalna razmatranja; vrednovanje kvalitete - barem što se tiče raširene mreže javnih predškolskih ustanova u Sloveniji - se stoga također treba provoditi uz pomoć odgovarajućih metodološki dizajniranih instrumenata.Ključne riječi: dokumentacija; kvaliteta; pedagoški pristup Reggio Emilia; predškolski odgoj i obrazovanje; Slovenija; vrednovanje.