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The program is based on the principles of respect, responsibility, and community through exploration and discovery in a supportive and enriching environment based on the interests of the children through a self-guided curriculum.
Central priciples
Central priciples
The Reggio Emilia philosophy is based upon the following set of principles:
Children must have some control over the direction of their learning — Importance of projects
Children must be able to learn through experiences of touching, moving, listening, and observing
Children have relationships with other children and with materials in their space, their environment- hence children must be allowed to explore
Children must have endless ways and opportunities to express themselves.
Children have 100 or more languages
The role of the educator as co-constructor
The environment is seen as the 3rd teacher
Learning occurs over long periods of time, referred to as projects
Relationships and connections between people and place is integral including relationships with culture, family and history
Interactions with children are paramount and they should reflect best practice, as:
Eye contact, open body language and smile
Be available to the child so sit on the floor/ at their level
Listen to their verbal and body language
Ask open ended questions- what do they know?
Laugh with children. enjoy the present moment
Use positive language such as “walk inside"
Acknowledge their communication efforts such as "I like that word… that is great vocabulary. That's a great idea"
Respect and support communication styles and levels of participation
Be aware of your tone of voice
Speak calmly when handling conflict or challenging behaviors
Malaguzzi's assumption was that people form their own personality during early years of development and that children are endowed with "a hundred languages" through which they can express their ideas. Therefore the aim of the Reggio Emilia Approach is teaching how to use these symbolic languages (eg., painting, sculpting, drama) in everyday life.
Updated 10. August 2021 - Based on this Wikipedia article and other sources
The Reggio Emilia Approach is an educational philosophy focused on preschool and primary education. It was developed by a teacher, Loris Malaguzzi in the villages around Reggio Emilia in Italy. Reggio Emilia is reflecting tradition of community support for families with young children, and a view of children as the collective responsibility of the local community.
"What Does 'High-Quality' Preschool Look Like?"
Some of the questions we will discuss in class
What is "high quality"?
What does a project approach to learning mean?
What are the challenges to a self-guided curriculum?
What do you understand by self-guidance?
Why do the teacher emphasise the importance of patience?
How is teaching patience different from doing things slow?
Why is accountability important?
What does it mean to have task oriented assignments - versus open ended?
Can this be used for different purposes?
What are the implications of using everyday tools?
How do the teacher work with design of assessments?
What does deep learning really mean?
Philosophy
Philosophy
The Reggio Emilia approach puts the natural development of children as well as the close relationships that they share with their environment at the center of its philosophy, promoting the best possible integration among children’s languages. In this approach, there is a belief that children have rights and should be given opportunities to develop their potential. Children are believed “knowledge bearers”, so they are encouraged to share their thoughts and ideas about everything they could meet or do during the day.
CNN News Report on Reggio Emilia Early Childhood Schools in the US (old video, but still somewhat relevant)
Some of the questions we will discuss in class
The "Reggio-approach" is described as different
Why?
Different, compared to what?
To what extent is this still a relevant issue?
Are there cultural differences?
Howard Gardner speaks about cognitive development
What are the implications?
There are some values that are clearly expressed
Which values?
Pros and cons?
How can a specific teaching approach be "reinvented" in other settings?
The Reggio Emilia philosophy is based upon the following set of principles:
Children must have some control over the direction of their learning.
Children must be able to learn through experiences of touching, moving, listening, and observing.
Children have a relationship with other children and with material items in the world that children must be allowed to explore.
Children must have endless ways and opportunities to express themselves.
The foundation of the Reggio Emilia is a belief that children have rights and should be given opportunities to develop their potential. The child is viewed as being an active constructor of knowledge. Rather than being seen as the target of instruction, children are seen as having the active role of an apprentice. This role also extends to that of a researcher. Much of the instruction at Reggio Emilia schools takes place in the form of projects where they have opportunities to explore, observe, hypothesize, question, and discuss to clarify their understanding.
Carla Rinaldi discusses the formation of the Reggio Emilia approach
Some of the questions we will discuss in class
How can the situation i Reggio Emilia, after the war, relate to situations in the world today?
Why are schools important as symbols?
Rinaldi talks about education of 3-6 years old as part of the school system – what are the implications?
How does issues of (human) rights influence the thinking?
Who is educated and who is educator?
What attitude does Rinaldi talk about?
What are the key principles?
What does she mean with "local strategy" and "contemporary global"?
How can children "live democracy"?
How do democracy change?
Parents are viewed as partners, collaborators and advocates for their children. Teachers respect parents as each child's first teacher and involve parents in every aspect of the curriculum. It is not uncommon to see parents volunteering within Reggio Emilia classrooms throughout the school. This philosophy does not end when the child leaves the classroom. Some parents who choose to send their children to a Reggio Emilia program incorporate many of the principles within their parenting and home life.
The role of teachers
The role of teachers
In the Reggio approach, the teacher is considered a co-learner and collaborator with the child and not just an instructor. Teachers are encouraged to facilitate the child's learning by planning activities and lessons based on the child's interests, asking questions to further understanding, and actively engaging in the activities alongside the child, instead of sitting back and observing the child learning. "As partner to the child, the teacher is inside the learning situation" (Hewett, 2001).
Some implementations of the Reggio Emilia approach self-consciously juxtapose their conception of the teacher as autonomous co-learner with other approaches. For example:
Teachers' long-term commitment to enhancing their understanding of children is at the crux of the Reggio Emilia approach. Their resistance to the American use of the term model to describe their program reflects the continuing evolution of their ideas and practices. They compensate for the meagre pre-service training of Italian early childhood teachers[citation needed] by providing extensive staff development opportunities, with goals determined by the teachers themselves. Teacher autonomy is evident in the absence of teacher manuals, curriculum guides, or achievement tests. The lack of externally imposed mandates is joined by the imperative that teachers become skilled observers of children in order to inform their curriculum planning and implementation.[11]
While working on projects with the child, the teacher can also expand the child's learning by collecting data that can be reviewed at a later time. The teacher needs to maintain an active, mutual participation in the activity to help ensure that the child clearly understands what is being "taught".
Documentation
Documentation
Using a variety of media, teachers give careful attention to the documentation and presentation of the thinking of the children. Rather than making judgements about the child, the teacher inquires and listens closely to the children. An example of documentation might be a book or panel with the student’s words, drawings, and photographs. By making learning visible, the teachers accomplish several things. They are able to study the thinking and feeling of the students in order to gain insight into their understanding. Also, the documentation serves to help the teacher and other educators to evaluate their own work and refine the curriculum accordingly. And finally, it gives parents information regarding their child’s learning experience while creating an archive for the class and school.[12]
Teachers and children in an italian nursery school
Carla Rinaldi on documentation
Some of the questions we will discuss in class
How can documentation be a tool?
What does "visible learning" mean in this respect?
What does Rinaldi mean by "we are what we want to lean"?
Are there any issues with sharing documentation with parents?
The role of the environment
The role of the environment
The organization of the physical environment is crucial to Reggio Emilia's early childhood program, and is often referred to as the child's "third teacher". Major aims in the planning of new spaces and the remodelling of old ones include the integration of each classroom with the rest of the school, and the school with the surrounding community. The importance of the environment lies in the belief that children can best create meaning and make sense of their world through environments which support "complex, varied, sustained, and changing relationships between people, the world of experience, ideas and the many ways of expressing ideas."
The preschools are generally filled with indoor plants and vines, and awash with natural light. Classrooms open to a center piazza, kitchens are open to view, and access to the surrounding community is assured through wall-size windows, courtyards, and doors to the outside in each classroom. Entries capture the attention of both children and adults through the use of mirrors (on the walls, floors, and ceilings), photographs, and children's work accompanied by transcriptions of their discussions. These same features characterize classroom interiors, where displays of project work are interspersed with arrays of found objects and classroom materials. In each case, the environment informs and engages the viewer.
Other supportive elements of the environment include ample space for supplies, frequently rearranged to draw attention to their aesthetic features. In each classroom there are studio spaces in the form of a large, centrally located atelier and a smaller mini-atelier, and clearly designated spaces for large- and small-group activities. Throughout the school, there is an effort to create opportunities for children to interact. Thus, the single dress-up area is in the center piazza; classrooms are connected with telephones, passageways or windows; and lunchrooms and bathrooms are designed to encourage community.
Groups of children will stay with one particular teacher for a three-year period, creating consistency and an environment where there are no added pressures from having to form new relationships.
The parents' role mirrors the community's, at both the school-wide and the classroom level. Parents are expected to take part in discussions about school policy, child development concerns, and curriculum planning and evaluation.
Long-term projects as vehicles for learning
Long-term projects as vehicles for learning
The children learn principles of science, math and language through hands-on projects directly related to their own interests. There are no teacher’s manuals and the teachers have complete autonomy to plan a curriculum usually characterized by real-life problem-solving among peers, with numerous opportunities for creative thinking and exploration. Teachers often work on projects with small groups of children, while the rest the class engages in a wide variety of self-selected activities typical of preschool classrooms.
The topic of investigation may derive directly from teacher observations of children's spontaneous play and exploration. Project topics are also selected on the basis of an academic curiosity or social concern on the part of teachers or parents, or serendipitous events that direct the attention of the children and teachers. Reggio teachers place a high value on their ability to improvise and respond to children's predisposition to enjoy the unexpected. Regardless of their origins, successful projects are those that generate a sufficient amount of interest and uncertainty to provoke children's creative thinking and problem-solving and are open to different avenues of exploration. Because curriculum decisions are based on developmental and sociocultural concerns, small groups of children of varying abilities and interests, including those with special needs, work together on projects.
Projects begin with teachers observing and questioning children about the topic of interest. Based on children's responses, teachers introduce materials, questions, and opportunities that provoke children to further explore the topic. While some of these teacher provocations are anticipated, projects often move in unanticipated directions as a result of problems children identify. Thus, curriculum planning and implementation revolve around open-ended and often long-term projects that are based on the reciprocal nature of teacher-directed and child-initiated activity. All of the topics of interest are given by the children. Within the project approach, children are given opportunities to make connections between prior and new knowledge while engaging in authentic tasks...
The "piazza": common space in a preschool
The Reggio Inspired Approach at St. Michaels University School:
Some of the questions we will discuss in class
How can curriculum and individual creativity be combined?
What does it mean to be "Reggio-inspired"?
How can we include children as active participants in the planning of teaching?
The hundred languages of children
The hundred languages of children
The term "hundred languages of children" refers to the many ways that children have of expressing themselves. Reggio teachers provide children different avenues for thinking, revising, constructing, negotiating, developing and symbolically expressing their thoughts and feelings. The goal is for the adults and children to better understand one another.
As children proceed in an investigation, generating and testing their hypotheses, they are encouraged to depict their understanding through one of many symbolic languages, including drawing, sculpture, dramatic play, and writing. They work together toward the resolution of problems that arise. Teachers facilitate and then observe debates regarding the extent to which a child's drawing or other form of representation lives up to the expressed intent. Revision of drawings (and ideas) is encouraged, and teachers allow children to repeat activities and modify each other's work in the collective aim of better understanding the topic. Teachers foster children's involvement in the processes of exploration and evaluation, acknowledging the importance of their evolving products as vehicles for exchange.
Reggio at Rye Presbyterian Nursery School: The 100 Languages of Children
Some of the questions we will discuss in class
What are potential pro and cons when involving parents?
"They have to do these things in order" – what are the implications?
Think about the relationships between musical rhythm and other topics?
What does John Dewey say about rhythm and aesthetic experience?
How do we show that we value a child's work?
Whay are many ways of expression important?
The Reggio Emilia schools are a good example of what Howard Gardner calls multiple intelligences at work in education.
Early video with Howard Gardner talking about The Multiple Intelligence Theory
Some of the questions we will discuss in class
What do Gardner mean by multiple intelligence?
What are the implications for education?
Gardner speaks of eight intelligences
Can we fulfill all of them?
If so, how?
What does Gardner mean by "peperation is behind the scene"?
Challenges
Challenges
There are always pros and cons of different approaches. Where intellectual curiosity is rewarded students continue to reap the benefits of Reggio after they've left the program.
Reggio Emilia's approach to early education reflects a theoretical kinship with John Dewey, Jean Piaget, Vygotsky and Jerome Bruner, among others. Much of what occurs in the class reflects a constructivist approach to early education. Reggio Emilia's approach does challenge some conceptions of teacher competence and developmentally appropriate practice. For example, teachers in Reggio Emilia assert the importance of being confused as a contributor to learning; thus a major teaching strategy is purposely to allow mistakes to happen, or to begin a project with no clear sense of where it might end. Another characteristic that is counter to the beliefs of many Western educators is the importance of the child's ability to negotiate in the peer group.
One of the most challenging aspects of the Reggio Emilia approach is the solicitation of multiple points of view regarding children's needs, interests, and abilities, and the concurrent faith in parents, teachers, and children to contribute in meaningful ways to the determination of school experiences. Teachers trust themselves to respond appropriately to children's ideas and interests, they trust children to be interested in things worth knowing about, and they trust parents to be informed and productive members of a cooperative educational team.
The Wonder of Learning
The Wonder of Learning
The exhibition The Wonder of Learning presents a narrative and communicative structure designed to reflect the contemporaneity, the complexity, and the plurality of points of view that have always characterized the work carried out in the infant-toddler centres and preschools of Reggio Emilia.
See the video The Power of Listening to Children: The Journey of Inspiration from Reggio Emilia on Vimeo.
Sources
Sources
https://www.doria.fi/bitstream/handle/10024/103745/carlsen_kari.pdf?sequence=2
https://www.utdanningsforbundet.no/upload/Tidsskrifter/Forste%20steg/FS_1_13/Fs%201%202013_54-56.pdf
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/15411790801910735
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