The Reggio Emilia Approach
The
Reggio Emilia approach to early childhood education is based on over
forty years of experience in the Reggio Emilia Municipal Infant/toddler
and Preschool Centers in Italy. It places emphasis on children’s
symbolic languages in the context of a project-oriented curriculum.
Learning is viewed as a journey; and education as building
relationships with people (both children and adults) and creating
connections between ideas and the environment. Through this approach,
adults help children understand the meaning of their experience more
completely through documentation of children’s work, observations, and
continuous teacher-child dialogue. Reggio approach guides children’s
ideas with provocations—not predetermined curricula. There is
collaboration on many levels: parent participation, teacher
discussions, and community.
Reggio
Emilia Approach is based on a comprehensive philosophy, underpinned by
several fundamental, guiding principles:
- The child as protagonist, collaborator, and communicator.
- The teacher as partner, nurturer, guide, and researcher.
- Cooperation as the foundation of the educational system.
- The environment as the “third teacher.”
- The Parent as Partner
- Documentation as communication.
A Cooperative School
As
a cooperative, we are also committed to the role of community in the
school. Reggio Emilia recognizes that parents are a child’s first
teachers and that it is the parents, their children and teachers who
are going to school together. It is this relationship that forms the
heart of the cooperative. Parents and teachers learn from one another
how to best help their children interpret the world around them.
Parents and teachers also work to create a sense of continuity between
life at home and life at school. Research shows that the more involved
parents can be in education, the more success children enjoy. Our goal
is to create a place where parents are not only welcome, but are
connected and appreciated.
The Teacher
The teacher in Reggio Emilia is the researcher, the data gatherer, the learner, and the strategic contributor to the child’s capacity to learn. The responsibility is on the community of teachers to provide the contexts for learning. The curriculum emerges with purpose, direction, and detail. Teachers constantly gather information about what is emerging. The role of the teacher is not just to impart facts and knowledge. The role of the teacher is to help children come to understand the relationships of things around them to themselves.
The Environment
Each Classroom is designed to support the Reggio Emilia approach as well as allowing opportunities for physical exploration and imaginative play. In Reggio Emilia the environment is often referred to as the third teacher. The aesthetics are simple and homelike with attention paid to ensure that there is a purpose for all things introduced to the environment. As in a typical elementary classroom you do not find brightly colored posters or signs. A space designed solely for creative endeavours called the "Atelier" or Artist Studio is where the children can visually express their interpretations of the world. A large climbing fort and other smaller play lofts are great places for kids to expend energy or provide smaller more childlike spaces for quite play. Our classrooms are also designed as flexible spaces with equipment that is moveable allowing for a changing environment. Our approach to the school environment embodies educators’ belief that children are resourceful, curious, competent, imaginative, and have a desire to interact with and communicate with others.