Observation is a skill that appears insistently in a multitude of discourses that analyze the practices of Early Childhood Education teachers. This evaluative action, as defined fundamentally from developmental psychology, has its roots in the need to know childhood from "the behavior" that they have (Wylie & Fenning, 2012), as different studies point out in Finland (Alasuutari & Karila, 2010), Sweden (Emilson & Pramling Samuelsson, 2014) or Canada (Pacini-Ketchabaw et al., 2014). An observation that ceases to be a “depersonalized” action when it is experienced as an “aesthetic” look that embraces (Dewey, 1980) other complex dispositions that connect directly with the emotional experience.

This observation as a relevant axis of the educational process must be incorporated in the initial training in a lively and reflective way. An incorporation that encourages trainee teachers to take an active role in their learning process (Giudici et al., 2001). Thus, assuming that role implies understanding teacher training from a prism that transcends the eternal theory versus practice confrontation. A practice in which practical knowledge emerges, formed by a "repertoire of images, maps or artifacts that bring with them information, logical associations, routines, habits, desires and emotional connotations" (Pérez Gómez, 2010, p. 93). So, theory is the context that helps us to dialogue with the educational meaning of this practice.

Observation becomes an identity pedagogical element of the Early Childhood pre-service teacher, so it should not be conceived as a mere isolated skill, but as part of that complex system of reflection and action called competence (Pérez Gómez, 2010). In short, it is about understanding that observing also connects and at the same time, with our knowledge, attitudes, values and emotions. In this way, while observation in the Early Childhood school tradition has been situated in classifying children at certain points on the developmental scale (Kahttar & Callaghan, 2019), erasing any hint of the possibility of surprise, the experience of the look (differing conceptually from observation) precisely seeks the disruption of this common thought. Of course, this disposition does not place itself in the position of denial of any theoretical discourse, but rather admits its vulnerability and contingency with the context and seeks to reshape it in the way that contributes meaning to what happens in everyday practice (Whitehead, 1995).

This look that establishes the relationship and astonishment as a vehicle is a process that facilitates pedagogical documentation. Pedagogical documentation, understood as “visible listening” (Rinaldi, 2006) that, through the recording of photographs, videos, narrations, transcripts, etc., seeks to understand children's actions and think about how children learn. It has the potential of, on the one hand, enabling the emergence of a different look and, on the other, of inviting it to have an impact that facilitates the reconstruction of practical knowledge (through the development of practical thinking). This is why we consider as our purpose in our research (supported by the University of Malaga and the Government of Spain; FPU 17/03577) to narrate the possible transformations that may be occurring in the practical knowledge of a group of Early Childhood pre-service teachers who, through the use of pedagogical documentation, have an echo in the construction of a “culture of the gaze” different from that which has been traditionally lived in university classrooms.

We developed our study in an Ecuadorian university of Initial Teacher Training with a pedagogical model that is characterized by: the relevance of practice and metacognition; the structuring of the curriculum in cases / problems, action research through Lesson Study and the mentoring function of university teachers, among others. Specifically, through the theoretical sample we have selected a university teacher whose practices are characterized by the frequent use of pedagogical documentation. This teacher acts as an academic mentor of a group of 6 Early Childhood pre-service teachers who, in their last year of the degree, prepare their final projects while developing their apprenticeship in Early Childhood schools. Thus, the group has faced a cooperative action research process (Lesson Study) to design a methodological proposal in the classrooms. In this experience, it is precisely the pedagogical documentation that has nourished the questioning of the proposals according to what the children were suggesting through their actions. We decided to face an investigation with a qualitative approach and, specifically, from the case study modality (Simons, 2009), because we want to understand the concrete experience of these students without the intention of generalizing to other contexts. In the same way that we assume in our theoretical position an intention to (without great pretensions) open the possibility to deterritorialize (Hodgins, 2019) the usual ways of conducting research. In this sense, we also welcome pedagogical documentation as a tool of our qualitative research, which we accompany with everyday instruments such as: • Properly ethnographic observations of a systematic nature (Angrosino, 2007) both in the apprenticeship centers, in the face-to-face sessions at the university and the numerous tutorials (approximately 100 hours). • Semi-structured interviews (14) with all the participants in the pedagogical experience. • Documentary analysis of all productions (portfolios, written reflections, documentary stories and final projects; approximately 800 pages) of the group, together with the materials prepared by the academic mentor to accompany the process and the normative documents of the university itself. We carry out a categorical analysis of a qualitative nature, opening the possibility of the appearance of new categories. In the constitution of these, we carry out the triangulation of informants, moments and instruments.

The first axis that emerges is what we call the “testimonial” quality of the observation record, the one that is limited to wandering through what happened registering actions without stopping why they were. This is what in a similar study developed in Norway (Alvestad & Sheridan, 2015) was called “limited documentation”. The second axis has to do with the emotional link with what happens. This axis arises especially in two students, when the surprise with some children's plots invites them to listen carefully. But what is it that makes them "stop to look"? We have collected sufficient evidence of the stimulus that the emotional impact supposes (an essential component of the subjective dispositions of our practical knowledge; Pérez Gómez, 2017). Thus, connecting emotionally with what children do invites them to stay to know what will happen, conquering a waiting capacity that shows another professional attitude. In this transition, looking is no longer just a contemplative action, but it connects them with children's stories with the sensitivity that is required (Rinaldi, 2004). We could consider this, for example, with the evolution of the role of Nini (student of the group), who watched how Jorge (4 years old) played with an empty glass jar until he approached her: Jorge: Look Nini, it’s a treasure. Nini: A treasure? And what does it contain? Jorge: I'm going to taste it ... It's not tasty! Here you have, taste it. Nini: Ahhh [she screams with a frightened face] In summary, the aforementioned experience makes us think that documenting pedagogically invites us to look in a disruptive way with what is usually considered hegemonic. In addition, it ends up fracturing the constituent dispositions of our practical knowledge in the process of a practice that enables an ethical relationship of encounter (McLeod, 2008) with childhoods.

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