Is Reggio for Everyone?

Marilyn Hayward Study Tour Reggio Emilia April 2012

First and foremost, I loved the town of Reggio Emilia, it has everything I love about Italian cities; Piazzas, great restaurants, bars, beautiful shops. There is such a sense of community and it is so obvious that children are valued! There is real emphasis on family and children and there is much evidence of this throughout the town. The projects, childrens drawings, a family run on a Sunday morning, water fountains for children to play in, and inviting play spaces. The study tour had 380 participants from 30 different countries. On the first day, the Mayor of Reggio Emilia spoke to us. He spoke about his community and the importance they place on education particularly in the early years. Here are some of his comments: The city made a decision to invest in poorer areas in order to increase knowledge and education. Investment in education is so important as it leads to respect for each other, care and community. It tells the child that he/she is important. They are not a vase to be filled. When you invest in education, the return is very high! Education should be at the top of strategic planning. Schools promote bridging. School is a mirror of society. When you are with people who love you you are more able to give love. Not a model to be copied. Now I dont know about you but I thought it was pretty wonderful that the mayor of the city could speak in this way about education. I also need to say that South Australia got a mention for having a government that is showing great interest in the early years. There were several South Australians in the audience who were feeling particularly pleased with themselves! The Study Tour Programme Overall, I enjoyed the week, in particular meeting others and sharing ideas. I loved visiting the centres and talking with the staff. I saw very high levels of engagement from children involved in their work. The highlight for me however was listening to two projects; the Graphic Traces of Children and the Theatre Curtain. I so enjoyed hearing the background information and process of these projects. The educators showed such trust in the children to lead and continue the project and as a result the children were exposed to amazing learning opportunities. I found some of the lectures hard going in that it was difficult listening to the Italian and then hearing the translation. I thought some of the translation was too literal and wordy and I found it very hard to stay focussed. Some of their work is very theoretical!

So is Reggio for everyone? I think it depends on what lens you go with. Beautiful environments are incredibly inspiring and all of us would agree that our children, all children, deserve to be in centres where the environment is carefully and thoughtfully constructed so as to stimulate the childs senses, sense of wonder and curiosity. Large centres with piazzas, ateliers (art studios), courtyards, light rooms, abundant natural light, separate dining rooms and lots of open spaces that can be used flexibly would be fantastic. Are we ever going to have that in the public system of Australia? Probably not. Are we ever going to be able to afford artists (atelieristas) or even specialist teachers (pedagogistas) who visit a group of sites and have input into curriculum? Probably not. But on that note, lets remember what we do have beautiful outdoor spaces we can use all year round; we also have well-trained educators, reasonable staff/child ratios and at last, minimum National Standards. So what are the key messages from Reggio. 1. Image of the Child Children are viewed as citizens of the community from the very beginning. What if a community is expecting and preparing for children? Investing in childhood means building places where children can feel well (well-being) and then the general community will feel well. We need to trust children. We know children from a very early age are able to self- regulate. Use of real tools, china plates, glass, metal objects shows our trust. Children dont need adults to tell them what to do. Trust in childrens ability to lead a project. Childrens learning is integrated, therefore schools should not be separating what was connected at birth. Children share with peers what was the process, what did you do, how, how did you overcome difficulties? Small groups work together and then share with big group. Solitude impoverishes people. 2. TIME The best thing we can give to children. Give value to time, the time it takes to do things, processing, spending time with children. Sometimes children need to rest on a concept. Children need to work at their own pace. Educators spend more time with children rather than directing children. Every part of the day is just as important as any other part of the day. Children need to be keen observers of their world. Notice the details. This is what makes the difference. Their learning needs to be unhurried as so much of their life is hurried! 3. Role of the Educator Educators role is to listen. Educators do more listening than telling. Children and adults are involved in mutual discovery. Work with the child is based on observation and research not formulas. Striving toward research is a permanent attitude in their work and it requires interdependency. One adult is not enough for the plurality of this work. (Collegial support)

 Educators use documentation as a resource to make choices about what comes next. Educators support critical thinking between children. (so, what did you think about what Sara said, do you agree?) Educators document what they notice and what children say. Educators then discuss and reflect and decide where to go next. Educators are researchers with children, not applying a program that has been given to them. Building work together, not following a programme. Set up the environment with children not for children! Plan with children not for children! Do with children not for children! Exploring the possibilities that could happen leads to the work that happens in projects. Actively listening to parents, children and colleagues. Special needs assistants role is to facilitate communication not instruct. Support children to see themselves as investigators and enquirers by being curious and working alongside children and demonstrating genuine amazement and wonder. Foster independence in children. This frees up time to work with small groups as does the engaging environment (third teacher). 4. Centres Buildings for children need to promote relationships and be flexible. They must be inviting and appealing. Transparency between spaces gives children options of where they can go. Children can see beyond their own space and observe activities of children in other areas. Able to see into the kitchen. Heavy emphasis on open-ended, recycled and natural materials. Not a lot of plastic toys. Environments are open to many possibilities. Emphasis on caring for others, spaces, the environment and materials. Very high levels of engagement in the children.

Further thoughts: I went to Reggio Emilia with a pretty good understanding of their underlying philosophy and principles as I have done a lot of reading on this as well as attending National Reggio conferences in Australia. I am also part of the South Australian Reggio network so I meet fairly regularly with others who have already participated in the study tour or are similarly inspired by the principles of Reggio Emilia. I have heard of people coming away from the Reggio Experience feeling like they have gone through a life changing experience. Did I feel that? No. I also met and know of people who have made several trips to Reggio (9 times??? Like what didnt you get?). Do I understand this? No. Did I feel the magic and did I take anything away with me? YES!!! What will I take with me and explore further? Revisiting this came out particularly well in the Graphic Traces of Children project. Children need to be able to re-visit their work, reflect and make changes to it. This is something I will incorporate more in my work with children. More use of recycled materials as provocations for children. I will be looking at our recycling centre with new eyes. Much more use of natural materials as opposed to coloured plastic.

 Continue to support childrens critical thinking through meaningful discussions where the educator does not play a major role. Making sure that I view every part of the day as an important learning experience. The value they put on the early years is something that will always stay with me and I will promote this in Australia (and worldwide) every opportunity I get. I believe that the key messages from Reggio Emilia are relevant to all of us. I dont think it matters what our socio-economic context is or what age level we are working with, these are realistic and achievable goals. Yes, there were beautiful environments but the most beautiful thing I observed were the strong relationships between educators, children and families.