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.

We're for kids

Have you seen that advertisement for dog food - Pal dog food, I think it is. They use a really neat phrase - 'we're for dogs'. I love it - I stop and watch it every time. It leaves a nice warm feeling and makes you want to go out and get a dog.

A visitor to our school this week asked me 'Are all primary schools like this? The kids are so exuberant and happy.' We were standing watching 200+ children at play - all running, jumping, arms out wide, smiling and laughing and squealing just for the fun of it. One little girl burst past us leaping over garden beds and shouting for a friend. My visitor said 'oops, there's one that's going to end in tears...' and sure enough 10 seconds later she was flat on her back with tears pouring down her face. We both started forward at the same time but before we could get there she was surrounded by other children and a couple of staff, and a couple of minutes later she was up and running again, with a bunch of kids in tow.

Then, yesterday a new staff member commented in passing that he had either worked in or in the course of his work visited about twenty five schools over the last few months and that this was the first one in which, when you walk through the front door you just feel that it's about kids - he added 'not sucking up or anything, Gwen!'

And he's right, it is about kids, it's always been about kids since the day the first tree went down on the block of land that is now our school; and we are working hard together to ensure it's always about kids... because - we're for kids!