Toshiya Yogi
This study describes how a single nursery teacher reflected on her own practice and transformed her way of engaging with a “child of concern”—a Japanese term for a child who, without a formal diagnosis, is perceived by caregivers as requiring special attention or support. Over a six-month period, a nursery teacher kept weekly episodic records (24 in total) of her engagement with the child and participated in monthly one-on-one reflective dialogues with the researcher (six sessions, approximately 360 minutes in total). The records and verbatim transcripts were analysed using the Steps for Coding and Theorization (SCAT), a qualitative analysis method with an explicit, auditable coding procedure. The analysis yielded a three-stage account of change in the teacher’s perspective: from viewing the child’s behaviour as an object to be controlled, through an orientation toward understanding the meanings and emotions behind the behaviour, to flexible engagement responsive to the child. Throughout this process, the verbalisation of practice through recording and the deepening of interpretation through reflective dialogue appeared to operate in a mutually reinforcing cycle. Over the same period, the teacher increasingly described the child as emotionally settled and as approaching peers; because these descriptions are the teacher’s own observations rather than independent measurements, they are reported here as changes in the teacher’s account rather than as verified changes in the child. The study illustrates, through a single case, how the interplay of recording and reflective dialogue may support a nursery teacher’s understanding of children.