What is the Reggio Emilia Approach?

The Reggio Emilia Approach is an innovative and inspiring approach to early childhood education which values the child as strong, capable and resilient; rich with wonder and knowledge. Every child is steeped in deep curiosity and potential and this drives their interest to understand their world and their place within it.

The Reggio Emilia Approach originated after World War 2 in the town (and surrounding areas) of Reggio Emilia in Northern Italy. The women of Reggio wanted progressive and cooperative early childhood education for their children.

The approach is not a method. It is a unique context to Reggio Emilia. Outside Reggio Emilia, schools are 'Reggio-inspired', that is, they are using an adaptation of the approach specific to the needs of their community. Typically, the Reggio Approach is applied to preschools and early childhood settings but with an understanding of the general principles, this educational approach can be adapted to other years of primary school as well.

The fundamental principles of the Reggio Approach are

• Children are capable of constructing their own learning - they are driven by their own interests to understand and know
• Children form an understanding of themselves and their place in the world through their interactions with others - the adult is not the 'giver' of the knowledge; the adult facilitates social collaboration and works with children to search out knowledge through investigation
• Children are communicators - communication is a way of discovering things and asking questions. Playing with language becomes an continual collaborative process
• The environment is the third teacher - the environment is recognised for its potential to inspire learning. It should be open and light, free of clutter with a multitude of materials and authentic resources and tools that can be considered for their unique purpose. The space encourages collaboration, communication and exploration and is cared for by the children and the adults
• The adult is a mentor and guide - the role of adults is to observe children, listen to their questions and stories, find what interests them and provide opportunities to explore their interests further
• An emphasis on documenting children’s thoughts - children's thoughts and progression of thinking is documented in many different ways i.e. photographs, visual representations, transcripts; all designed to make the thinking visible and show the learning process

Credit - https://reggioemilia2015.weebly.com/the-100-languages.html

The Hundred Languages of Children is a well known aspect of the Reggio Emilia Approach. The belief that children use many different ways to show their understanding and express their thoughts and creativity permeates the idea that there are a hundred different ways of thinking, of discovering, of learning. Drawing and sculpting, through dance and movement, through painting and play, through modelling and music are languages, or ways of learning, are all a part of the child. Learning and play are not separated. The approach emphasises hands-on inquiry learning that enables the child to use all their senses and all their languages to learn.

Reggio Emilia - a city built for its citizens

Reggio Emilia is in Northern Italy. It is beautiful, it is historic, it is cultured, it is another world. It is also the epicenter of some well known and revered educational thinking about child-centered learning.

As an early years teacher, Reggio Emilia is a place I've always wanted to see, a place where an international study tour is the stuff of dreams. But dream we did, and in November I was afforded the opportunity to take two of our Prep teachers to this inspirational city to learn about their work with Reggio children and see what links we could make to our own context back at Peregian Springs SS.

This stunning medieval city opens up its piazzas and squares to the people and children spend a lot of time in the piazzas learning how to map the spaces, know where they've come from, learn to be citizens of the city, help others, study the Literature and Mathematics of the past (amazingly relevant today) and drink in the beauty of their particular context which changes with the seasons. The week was a Journey into the Rights of Children and it was over too soon.

It was inspirational, and there will be a little bit of Reggio coming to our Prep classrooms in the near future.