It is through this very capacity of overcoming the difficulty that pleasure transforms itself into joy.

Expressivity f inds sources from play, as well as from practice, from study, f rom emotions, from intuition, from chance, and from rational imagination and transgressions. In fact, drawing, p ainting, and the use of all languages are experiences and explorations of life, of the senses, and of meanings.

had to be a place fo r sensitizing one's taste and aesthetic sense, a place for the individual exploration of projects connected with the experiences

Recognition of the value of the indoor and outdoor environments asspaces for learning, including kitchens, bathrooms, and outdoor spaces(Regulations for the

he idea of a laboratory for many types of transformations, constructions, and visual expressions.

Children are born with many resources and extraordinary potentials,

In these fragments lie the past and also the future (i.e., "What else could happen if .. ."). The result is knowledge that is bounteous, co-constructed and enriched by the contributions of many.

makes visible the learning processes and strategies used by each child, though always in a partial and subjective way; •enables reading, revisiting and assessment-these actions become integral to theknowledge building process; •seems to be es ential for meta-cognitiveprocesses, and for the understanding ofchildren and adults

n addition to offering support and mediation to the children, the teacher who knows how to observe, document and interpret these processes will realize his or her own full potential as a learner -in this case, learning how to teach. Documentation can be seen as visible listening:

ut this is true if, and only if, children have the opportunity to make these shifts in a group context - with others - and if they have the chance to listen and be listened to by others, to express their differences and be receptive to the differences of the others. The task of those who ducate is not only to allow the differen es to be expressed, but to make it possible for them to be negotiated and nurtured through exchanging and comparing ideas. In this way, not only does the indi-vidual child learn how to learn, but the group becomes conscious of itself as a •teaching place," where the languages are enriched, multiplied, refined and generated but al o where they collide and hybridize with each other, and are renewed.

hildren demonstrate that they have a voice, know how to listen and want to be listened to by others. Sociability is not taught to children: they are social beings.

This is why we, in Reggio, view children as active, compe-tent and strong, exploring and finding meaning -not as predetermined, fragile, needy and incapable

How can we help children find meaning in what they do, what they encounter, what they experience? And how can we do this for ourselves?" In the search for meaning, we must a k: "why?" "how?" and "what?" These are the key questions that children constantly ask, both in and out of chool.

We should listen to the children so that their wordsgive us the courage for the future and help us to find a new way to dialogue with the children and with ourselves.

was 2 to 2 think 2 critically 2 about 2 difficult 2 questions, 2 not reach closure.

they realize that a particular approach or hypothesis is not “correct.” They serve as the children’s partners, sustaining the children and offering assistance, resources, and strategies to get “relaunched” when they are stuck. Often teachers encourage children to continue with something or ask them to complete or add to something that they are doing. They prefer not to leave children to always work on their own but try instead to cooperate with the children’s goals.

The teaching team works closely with other adults (at times the atelierista, at times the pedagogista) to plan and document what has transpired. This happens in different ways in different schools, but in general, documentation involves hand-written notes as well as backup audio-recordings and transcriptions of children’s dialogue and group discussions; print and slide photographs or videotapes of key moments and activities; and collection of products and constructions made by children.

Reggio educators believe in shared control between teachers and children.

the teacher needs to enter into a kind of intellectual dialogue with the group of children and join in their excitement and curiosity.

We must be able to catch the ball that the children throw us, and toss it back to them in a way that makes the children want to continue the game with us, developing, perhaps, other games as we go along.

“Listening” means being fully attentive to the children and, at the same time, taking responsibility for recording and documenting what is observed and then using it as a basis for decision making shared with children and parents. “Listening” means seeking to follow and enter into the active learning taking place.

mages of the Child and the Teacher

The role of the adult as teacher complements the role of the child as learner; as Malaguzzi stated, “Your image of the child: Where teaching begins”

the role of the teacher in Reggio Emilia is com-plex, multifaceted, and necessarily fluid, responsive to the changing times and needs of children, families, and society.

O]ur image of children no longer considers them as isolated and egocentric, does not see them only engaged in action with objects, does not emphasize only the cog-nitive aspects, does not belittle feelings or what is not logical, and does not consider with ambivalence the role of the affective domain. Instead our image of the child is rich in potential, strong, powerful, competent, and most of all, connected to adults and other children. (Malaguzzi, 1993, p. 10)

The authors believe that young children are far more competent than most adults imagine

The adults' desire to hurry easily eclipses the child's momentary fascina-tions, and it can be difficult for adults to share authentically the focus of children's interests.

children up until about seven years of age communicate with each other more adequately by play than in speech, an argument can certainly be made that their childhood right to play is the same as our adult First Amendment right to free speech" (quoted in Nabhan & Trimble, 1994, p. 9).

Children's assertions that sadness and anger were not okay may stem from their awareness that these emotions were not always okay with their parents or teachers or peers, or that being angry or sad did not feel okay to them.

adults must lis-ten with all of their creativity.

10 Seen and Heard So it does not depend on the age of the teller, but on the sensitivity of the listener.

Children have a right to have their words heard by other people

hildren have a right to take off theirclothes when they are hot, but not their socks