Bulletin of Obihiro Otani Junior College

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This study aims to clarify what early childhood educators focus on when documenting children's experiences and how such focused documentation relates to the concept of learning dispositions. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with six educators working at the same certiﬁed early childhood education and care center in Prefecture A. The data were analyzed from three perspectives: points of attention in observation, approaches to written description, and processes of renewed understanding through reﬂection. The ﬁndings revealed that educators tended to value not completed outcomes but ongoing and often incomplete processes, such as children's deep engagement, trial and error, struggles, and changes in relationships with others. In documenting these processes, educators made deliberate efforts to use children's own words, to infer and verbalize children's inner thoughts, and to describe experiences in their own language rather than relying on standardized expressions. These practices functioned as reﬂective processes that deepened educators' understanding of children.
Furthermore, the focus of documentation showed strong alignment with learning dispositions as conceptualized by Carr, particularly dispositions such as taking an interest, persisting with difficulties, and becoming deeply involved in activities. The study suggests that documentation, when accompanied by the visualization of early childhood practice, serves not only to make children's learning visible but also to support educators' professional reflection and the development of their professional expertise. Documenting children's learning processes is thus positioned as an integral practice through which educators come to understand both children and their own professional roles.

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This study aimed to theoretically and practically elucidate the acquisition process of "AI literacy" as a foundation for early childhood educators to enhance their professionalism to a higher level by utilizing AI as a "theoretical catalyst," in the context of childcare settings facing the rapid proliferation of generative AI. By applying Instructional Design (ID) theory to the field of early childhood education, this study presented a developmental stage model that integrates the ARCS model, ADDIE model, and social constructivism with Uemura's (2026) "Three-Layer Structure of Learning." Furthermore, this study clariﬁed the theoretical foundations underlying Uemura et al.'s (2023) 'Continuous Support Consulting' by applying Instructional Design theory, and presented an integrated support model combining both frameworks. The originality of this study lies in: (1) the systematic application of Instructional Design theory to the field of early childhood education, (2) the conceptualization of AI literacy as "professional interpretive competence," and (3) the presentation of a practical development model through the integration of Continuous Support Consulting and Instructional Design.

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