tanding traditions of too many experiences that are amusing or entertaining and exciting rather than interesting.
I think we need to keep this in mind especially as we try to engage children with speaking digital languages. We want engagement, interest and discovery not passive consumption of digital content or overstimulation.
manufactured
Reminds me of a meme quote i saw the other day that was something like...I would have more faith in standardized education if i knew any standard children.
experience of offering suggestions to peers and helping them understand something better and experience of taking initiative, appropriate responsibilities, making some choices, and so forth -refer to the importance not only of building and supporting the dispo-sitions to interact positively and helpfully with peers, but in the processes of doing so, to learn many complex interactive
These are also the standard experiences we need for a functioning democracy.
suggest
This seems like another interpretation of the rights of the child.
The continuity of education for young children from 3 months to 6 years•A pedagogical-coordination-support team of pedagogisti andpsychologists•Participation by parents to infant/toddler centers and preschools forchildren with special needs•An atelier and an atelierista in each preschool and each infant/toddlercenter•Two teachers per classroom as co-teachers•Permanent collegial work and professional development in eachpreschool or infant toddler center for all teachers, atelieristi, cooks, andauxiliary personnel•Recognition of the value of the indoor and outdoor environments asspaces for learning, including kitchens, bathrooms, and outdoor spaces(Regulations for the Municipal Preschool, 1972, translation of p. 119
This is such a wonderful balance between imposing policy and giving schools freedom and autonomy.
in 1968 that established free education for all ch
This makes me feel how terribly behind the US is
The result is knowledge that is bounteous, co-constructed and enriched by the contributions of many.
What an incredible outcome and what an incredible goal.
observe themselves from an external viewpoin
Children and children seeing themselves from different angles.
he capacity for listening and reciprocal expectation is an important quality,
This reminds me to give children the time to do this. I thing we often skip this as adults because we are expected to be efficient and productive. All to often that is pushed on to children as well.
overcome the feelings of emptiness and precariousness that we experience when ourcertainties are questioned.
Wow. I didn't pull this out the first read through. This is huge work...how to stay grounded in our values and do this as well...
ning a time. When you realty listen, you getinto the time o
Teachers as listeners, teachers as researchers, teachers as time travelers.
"internal listening,•encourages us to listen lo others but, in turn, is generated when others listen to us.
I really love the spiraling or rippling nature of this.
sense of identity, any hope or any future.
Children and teachers can both feel this when there is a lack of meaning. It is disheartening and lends to the idea of giving up.
irst que lions
I am so happy that I am now working in a way that my first question isn't, "what am I required to teach these children?"
non-violent, honestandresponsible
This entire section makes me also want to add that listening to children gives us true practice with empathy which is such a vital ingredient if we are to help make the world a more peaceful, honest and just place.
Just as they see children as learning best through communication, conflict, and co-action, so do they see themselves as learning in this way.
This value is modeled as well as articulated.
hen tension dissipates and a new, shared understanding provides the basis for future joint activity or effort
I think we as a culture often stop short of this and are left with a feeling that the conflict or exchange has been pointless and therefore rather exhausting.
In contrast to a system in which concern for hurt feelings or ownership of ideas prevents extended examination and argumentation, in Reggio Emilia intellectual conflict is considered pleasurable for both adults and children.
This is connected to Rinaldi's idea of dialogue. When we approach this from a point of view ready to be transformed instead of correct.
waiting means missing the moment.
Documentation can perhaps help with this. If we miss the hot moment we can use documentation to spiral back there with children.
hot moment.
love this
blocks their action is a kind of cognitive knot.
This idea relates very much to valuing dissonance and error. Seeing the value in the mistakes and these help build resilience also, we help show the children they can work to understand and overcome knots.
The teachers seek to discover what may be important and expected in the moments streaming by and then help the children breathe further life into them
I love this. And this is how we life long learning happens also.
ystematic documentation allows each teacher to become a producer of research—that is, someone who generates new ideas about curricul
A major connection to our recent Carlina Rinaldi reading.
even when they realize that a particular approach or hypothesis is not “correct.
This is one way we can help show a value of mistakes and error.
The teachers’ role is to help children discover their own problems and questions.
I like this idea. We help them discover what is there already or what seeds get planted as they go about their lives.
With the help of the teacher, the question or observation of one child leads others to explore territory never encountered, perhaps never even suspected. This is genuine co-action of children.
This is also how the learning is multiplied. Each students ideas and curiosity lead to the groups knowledge. Also with these territories never encountered it is important that teachers don't simply answer the questions of the children, but participate in the research. If they answer the question the spiral stops.
sometimes to reach c, he needs to borrow assistance from the adult at that very special moment.
This reminded my of a part in the book Simplicity Parenting when a child really wanted to be able to ride her bike farther down the road than she ever had , but she was nervous and the parent instead of solving it or checking out says, "what do you need to be able to do it"
What kind of teachers are needed by our children—those real individuals in the classrooms of today?
This is powerful. I am I feel that right now one of the many answers to that question is kids need teachers who will work together to hold space for childhood.
as protagonists with unique per-sonal, historical, and cultural identities—involves parallel expectations and possi-bilities for adults. Teachers are likewise protagonists—participants with children and parents in singular moments of time and history.
For me this really brings children and teachers into humanity. Sometimes I feel like we can drift off from seeing the humanity of each within the group.
urthermore, children understand that rights, including the right to self-expression, are not contingent on age.
There is a connections between the focus or drawing attention to the differences of one group to the the group in power and the removal of rights. Racism does this with race, patriarchy and misogyny with gender, and we can even see it here, with age. When we think of children as vastly different and less than adults we find it easier to take away their rights. There is an interesting line when looking at differences. It seems we want to recognize and highlight differences but not assign inherent value to them.
Perhaps the core component of true listening is a willingness to learn from and be changed by what the other says. When adults position ourselves far above the children in our lives, we risk creating chasms too wide for young children to breech. When adults assume attitudes that are in any way dismissive, judgmental, or all-knowing, we may silence all but the most outspoken of children and risk that even those brave voices fall on deaf ears.
This is wonderful and in many ways this is what democracy is.
lone at a desk or participate in a one-on-one interview with the researcher in a quiet and secluded room.
This assessment notion also limits the child's languages.Of course this is problematic because it excludes some children's ideas and excluded some children entirely. It also emphasizes either the spoken and/or written word , and that we have connected in other coursework, is biased. As we begin to understand that emphasis on the written word can be a tool of white supremacy.
The children's responses surprised him.
They often do this, and this connects to assumptions we make, biases and observations as well.
exist in the moment and focus on what they find before them. Children encounter numerous marvels on the way to the car or to the stor
This lovely and so true.
This is perfect and poetic. And has a thread of connection to ways of working to expose our bias and negative cultural memos.
Children are not at all like this, predictable. Butsometimes schools function as if they were; these areschools with no joy.
This articulation is wonderfully "telling it like it is." A school without spontaneous discoveries is a school without that look of delight and wonder a child gets when they have stumbled across a new experience. And when you see that look it is contagious and inspires more joy. I think this happens for adults too, we have just learned to dull down our reactions but when a teacher does let the joy of fascination shine through other teachers are inspired to do the same, parents too.
What we have to do now is draw out the image of thechild, draw the child out of the desperate situationsthat many children find themselves in. If we redeemthe child from these difficult situations, we redeemourselves.
This seems like the ultimate response to trauma in any human's life to see and draw the image of them out, then they can see and know an image that is resilient and can move through trauma or difficulty and feel redeemed.
The teacher must forget all the lines he knewbefore and invent the ones he doesn’t remember
Poetic and perfect. I think this also has a connection to letting go of biases and preconceived notions about individual children.
The child wants to be observed, but she doesn’t wantto be judged.
I think this is a vital thing. A vital human thing and the place where belonging and worthiness and other vital things begin.
What is important to the child isthat the teacher sees the child while the child isworking, while the child is putting out the effort toaccomplish the task — the processes are important,how much the child is putting into the effort, howheroic the child is doing this work. What childrenwant is to be observed while engaged, they do notwant the focus of the observation to be on the finalproduct. When we as adults are able to see thechildren in the process, it’s as if we are opening awindow and getting a fresh view of things.
If the struggle of a task goes unobserved then the perseverance it took becomes invisible. Children are so present, "while engaged" is the perfect way to say it, when they are finished and the product is there, they are many times already beginning to move on to the next engagement.
What the child doesn’t want is an observation fromthe adult who isn’t really there, who is distracted.The child wants to know that she is observed, care-fully, with full attention. The child wants to beobserved in action. She wants the teacher to see theprocess of her work, rather than the product.
It is so true. They insist on that observation over and over again. Also this is why we document process not just just product.
veractivity on the part of the adult is a risk factor.The adult does too much because he cares about thechild; but this creates a passive role for the child inher own learning.
This an excellent reminder of how good intentions can have negative consequences. It takes a shift in perspective sometimes to see it. Too many rules can also cause this.
hanges the role of the teacher, a role thatbecomes much more difficult and complex. It alsomakes the world of the teacher more beautiful,something to become involved in
We revisit in different ways that these things spiral around together to be fulfilling for teachers, difficulty and beauty, struggle and creativity, dissonance and growth and progress.
The school we are talking about is not the school youare familiar with in the past, but it is something thatyou can hope for
This is why I am here.
Your Image of the Child:Where Teaching Begins
This is perfect. It is as simple as that, your image of the child is the thing, the first thing. Not the curriculum, or the state testing, not the theme of the week, not skills, not policy. The image of the child is first and with it the image of the teachers and families, then you design the rest while always spiraling back. You are navigating others things while keeping your image always in view.
welfareofall
I love this notion. They parents aren't active just for their own children, but all. Like the popular saying about there being no such thing as other people's children. The children are the children of our community, our cultures, our world we have a shared responsibility and a shared stake in their well being.
JohnDewey,JeanPiaget,LevVygotsky,DavidHawkins,JeromeBruner,HowardGardner
What a dream team here!
nvested
Thinking of this as an investment is so important from the community aspect. When you invest in early childhood you are investing in so much more than childcare. You are investing in children, in parents, in teachers, in the economy and so on and so on. I wonder if there is data from Reggio Emilia that can demonstrate a connection between the preschool investment and other sociological factors like unemployment and crime and quality of life.
municipal
I think the grass roots part of this is so amazing and inspiring.