Video-based research methodologies: possibilities and challenges for early childhood education research

In this workshop we present a research methodology that was applied to investigate the relationship between the pedagogy of play and children’s conceptual knowledge. The basis of the methodology centred on a playexperience designed by teachers. Children (ages 4-5) were videoed while engaging in the experience and theninvited to watch these recordings and to comment on their own play and learning. The discussions with thechildren were also video recorded and later shown to the teachers who designed the experiences. The videoeddata of the children responding to their recorded play was used to generate discussion with the teachers aroundwhat they believed the children were learning through play and who responded to the children’s perceptions of their play. In this workshop we examine why the decision was made to video the play and the children’s reactionsto their play. We explore the logistics of applying a video-based methodology and consider the challengesassociated with this approach.