Introduction to the Reggio Emilia Philosophy of Early Childhood Education
by Priscilla Restagno, TCEE Toddler Teacher
Every day your children walk into school with the intention to create, explore, and engage. While they may not be able to articulate their intentions with these words, their actions show all they are capable of accomplishing. Even the smallest moments hold the potential to spark something new.
At TCEE we believe in emergent curriculum, curriculum in the classroom that originates from the child. More specifically, we are a Reggio-inspired program. The Reggio Emilia approach is an emergent-based philosophy and constructivist pedagogy. Pedagogy is the practice of teaching, and constructivist means that children actively build knowledge rather than just passively taking it in. In the Reggio philosophy, children are viewed as whole people with ideas, knowledge, and curiosities that are deeply respected.
The Reggio philosophy emerged in the small town of Reggio Emilia, Italy, after World War II under the guidance of psychologist and pedagogical expert Loris Malaguzzi.. After the war ended, each province in Italy was given a sum of money to use as they wished to help rebuild the town and redevelop a sense of community. In Reggio Emilia, the community focused on education, starting with the youngest members of the town.
Malaguzzi developed the concept of “The Hundred Languages of Children,”- positing that children use varieties of language, including symbolic and non-verbal languages, to share their understanding of the world. Malaguzzi said, “The more time you spend with children, the more you notice how inquisitive they are about the world and how keen is their thinking even about the most subtle things –things which escape materiality, easy recognition, definite forms, and the laws of invariance, things you can touch but can’t touch, that brush against the real and imaginary, that have something of the mysterious about them and offer wide margins of interpretation.”
The Reggio philosophy and practice of Early Childhood Education was built off of this respect for children, their communication, and their creations to develop three core ideas:
Children are active learners and participants.
Teachers are co-learners and investigators.
The environment acts as a third teacher to spark inquiry and discovery.
In Reggio-inspired curriculum, there are three teachers. The first teacher is the parent, who “takes on the role of active partner and guide in the education of the child.” The second is the classroom teacher. Often working in pairs, the classroom teacher assumes the role of researcher and intentionally engages children in meaningful work and conversation. The third teacher is the environment – a setting designed to be not only functional but also beautiful and reflective of the child’s learning. It is the child’s relationship with parent, teacher, and environment that ignites learning.”
The Reggio teacher must consider the image of the child in everything we do. It is as present in the way we present materials and how we maintain our classrooms, as how we view children and think about childhood. We as Reggio teachers give time for children to come to their own understandings, providing crucial “wait time” as they make connections. The goal of the teacher is to “stimulate” and scaffold learning, rather than to fill the children, as blank slates, with knowledge. In his book “The Hundred Languages of Children,” Malaguzzi says, “What children learn does not follow as an automatic result from what is taught, rather, it is in large part due to the children’s own doing, as a consequence of their activities and our resources.” The third teacher, the Reggio environment, embodies more than just the physical space. It also includes how the space is used, how it feels, and the ambience it creates for the children. The environmental space should reflect the values of the teacher and program.
If you walk through the classrooms, you will find pictures and text on our walls. This is called “documentation” and is the process of gathering evidence of what happens in the classroom and reflecting upon it. The documentation process begins with observation and becomes data that guides future explorations. The documentation then becomes visible to other adults and children in the classroom, showing them all they are capable of discovering and doing. Children become inspired and reflective as they witness their work, often calling each other over to point out what they have done.
Every day us teachers at TCEE walk in with intention, just like the children. Emergent curriculum often feels amorphous because it flows as the children explore, and builds itself up as the children make connections and ask questions. It may feel disjointed or disconnected from the outside, until you delve into the connections made by the class to take the explorations in different directions. I encourage you to ask your classroom teachers what is inspiring the children lately or what new observations they have made. What you hear may make you chuckle, smile, or sit in awe.
I will leave you with one final quote about emergent curriculum:
“Emergent curriculum is not a free-for-all. It requires that teachers actively seek out and chase the interests of the children. This kind of teaching environment demands a high degree of trust in the teacher’s creative abilities, and envisions an image of the child as someone actively seeking knowledge. It is a perspective that turns structured curriculum, with predetermined outcomes, on its head. A standardized curriculum that is designed to replicate outcomes often eliminates all possibility of spontaneous inquiry, stealing potential moments of learning from students and teachers in a cookie-cutter approach to education in the classroom. Given the diversity of the children we teach, accepting a canned recipe for teaching, evaluation, and assessment is problematic at best. Each child we teach is unique, requiring us to use our own judgment, instead of rules, to guide our teaching practice. To teach well, educators must ensure that creativity and innovation are always present. Although good teaching requires organization and routines, it is never inflexible and rarely routine. It dances with surprise. It pursues wonder. It finds joy at every turn.”
