Embodiment, Creativity, and Cultural Sensitivity: Including children’s productions and perspectives in the evaluation of their educational needs

The present chapter discusses a qualitative study on the assessment of children’s educational needs in Finland. Particularly, it reports the use of a specific pedagogical method called Idea Diary, which was developed in Brazil by Luciana Muniz. The Idea Diary supports students by systematically bringing their ideas, interests, and knowledge about their experiences in different social contexts to the school context and guides the teachers on how to explore these experiences and use them in the learning process in the classroom. In the present study, the method was used as an evaluation tool to assess the educational needs of an eight-year-old boy with an immigrant background attending school with special education support. The method is detailed, and the results are discussed from the viewpoint of how the method allows for an embodied, creative and culturally sensitive approach to assessment.