The decision to have two coteachers in each classroom was not based on a goal of greater efficiency as much as on ethical, cultural, and pedagogical factors. The passage from one to two persons creates a basic nucleus of social behavior. A "pairing" of this sort brings into play interdependence and reciprocity of thought and action; and the choices made, which result from agreements, disagreements, and negotiations, become public acts. Moreover, this arrangement eliminates the isolation of the teacher in the classroom and fosters a first nucleus of socialization that, when multiplied by the number of classes and the number of staff, forms a team, or what we might call a breeding ground for human relationships.

In the awareness that we are dealing with an organism characterized by interactions that are rapid, complex, and simultaneous, we cannot think in terms of wanting to exercise overall control; we do, however, hold ourselves responsible for choosing and thus designing, to the best of our ability, the qualities of the bonds that we want to bring into existence.

Malaguzzi, children search for completeness, and they realize that this can be achieved not only through internal dialogue but also through dialogue with others. And the same is true for all of us

by interweaving individual and collective thought, leads us to experiment with the existence of "possible worlds" and the possibility of constructing new meanings or, better, shared meanings

we can clearly see how the plurality and diversity of the points of view, expectations, and interpretations in a group can become resources for influencing "reality."

we are constantly faced with the need to make choices, to rearrange elements of our own experience and that of others in sequences that generate innovations.

It generated an awareness that the issues of children and childhood cannot be treated separately from the issues of women, men, families, and society.

because of a bond that embodies a common sense of belonging, the construction of shared stories, and intertwined destinies. In our experience, the aim of organization is to create a bond of interdependence that can give each subject the meaning of his or her presence and of the presence of the others.

giving priority not to an "executive" intelligence but to a creative intelligence that attempts to construct, maintain, and renew this relationship

What makes the organization is the meaning given and the values ascribed to these structures by the subjects of a school. Organization involves working conditions, schedules, spaces, and decision-making processes, all of which are informed by and inform the values and relationships within an institutio

dedicate their energies primarily to curriculum and didactics, neglecting the broad network of relationships and communication that are an integral part of the educational process, and consequently placing little emphasis on the organization of these relationships

Building and maintaining relationships is the guiding thread that accompanies children through the various times, spaces, and activities of daily life; it is the main occupation to which they dedicate energies and passion

hese respectful and reciprocalrelationships resultin a richer andmore dynamicexperience for allthe members ofour community at ChicagoCommons.

s adults, wehave to be careful not to impose our adult agenda onthe children. We have to discover their intereststhrough conversations with children, by provoking children and asking them questions, and by listening tochildren

Weread this dialogue back to the children so theyknew we were paying attention to what they said.

Understanding that the children needed time toreflect and revisit their ideas was an important part of this experience.

hen we ask the chil-dren about their drawings, which helps us to becomemore familiar with their thinking and intentions. Thispowerful exercise also helps us to make connectionswith what is familiar to the children.

surface interest, they may lose the child's attention and engagement because they did not take the time to observe and listen for the child's core interests, ideas, motivations or intentions.

We often call this the “holding board” or “workin progress” board. The children re-visit this ongoingdocumentation with their teachers and parents canunderstand what’s happening in the classroomthrough the presence of these holding boards. Thesedisplays of current work eventually contribute to a finished documentation panel.

— INNOVATIONSINEARLYEDUCATION—– 10 –Exploring Reggio for our Child Development Programis about new possibilities. This approach to earlychildhood education has inspired teachers to thinkabout their role as a teacher, their impact on the livesof children, and what they do with children and why.As a result, we have been able to work with teachers’potential to become more reflective thinkers and facilitators who could support and provoke childrento develop and become problem solvers, decisionmakers, negotiators, collaborators and good commu-nicators who express themselves in many ways. Teachers have become better listeners to the many“languages” that children use to communicate. Manyof our families come from communities lacking inresources. Through our study of the Reggio approach,we believe we can offer new possibilities of develop-ing skills, knowledge and ideas that can help childrenbecome lifelong learners as well as competent adults.Over time, we also have come to realize that thisapproach encourages a respect for children that isboth strong and unconditional . . . a respect for children’s ideas, feelings, theories and experiences . . .a respect for adults (teaching staff, administrators,family workers and parents) as collaborators, problemsolvers and negotiators

o become more reflective thinkers and facilitators who could support and provoke childrento develop and become problem solvers, decisionmakers, negotiators, collaborators and good commu-nicators who express themselves in many ways. Teachers have become better listeners to the many“languages” that children use to communicate

elieve that educators can know each day where theyare going and where they would like to go. It is a routethat you discover as you travel.

The languages of small children are so subtleand so interwoven that sometimes it can be a tiny gesture that gives us a vision of whole ideas. This iswhere tools for observation become essential.

Most original work isdone through the opportunity of exchange with otherpeople.

When you are able to do this, you aremore likely to understand and represent the perspec-tive of others

t’s a way of going back to the children and giving back to the children images ofwhat we’ve done together. It’s a process of re-readingand re-interpreting processes that have been elaborat-ed by adults and children together.

uring a meeting with our colleagues from the infant-toddler centers and schools working on the guide, weshared these suggestions for open questions, and wealso shared possible strategies in order to encourageconversations and dialogues with the childre

This was an investigation builton open questions, as a way to stimulate group dia-logues and reflections. We did not ask questions onlyto discover what the children know and don’t know.Weasked open questions in order to create a groupcontext in which we could share our opinions and ourpoints of view, a context in which we could constructnew knowledge.

If a school is a place of life, if we want our school to be in touchwith life, it has to be a place that collects differentpoints of view and a place where those points of viewcan be expressed

we always try to involve parentsin the life of the school

atelierista,working along with teachers,

We recognize that all these languages need to be considered with equal dignity and value

It is a constructive feeling that must be reinforced so that the connected pleasure lasts even when reality may prove that learning, knowing and understanding can be difficult and require effort. It is through this very capacity of overcoming the difficulty that pleasure transforms itself into joy

Expressivity finds sources from play, as well as from practice, from study, from emotions, from intuition, from chance, and from rational imagination and transgressions

o preserve in children (and in ourselves) the feeling of wonder and surprise, because creativity, like knowledge, is a daughter of surprise.

guaranteed thepractice of working with the same children the for the continuum of three year

igure 2.1. "Once a week we would transport the school, (the children and our tools,) to town .... The children were happy. The people saw; they were surprised and they asked questions." (Gandini

retort for the marginal role commonly assigned to expressive education. It also was intended as a reaction against the concept of the education of young children based mainly on words and simpleminded rituals

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

This is where the school comes in; it should first and foremost be a "context of multiple listening," involving the teachers and children, individually and as a group, who should listen to each other and themselves.

t abounds in young children, who are the greatest listeners to the world that surrounds them. They listen to life in all its shapes and colors. They listen to others -adults and peers. They quickly perceive how listening is essential for communication

Listening a time. When you realty listen, you getinto the time of dialogue and interior reflection, an interior time that is made up of the present butalso past and future time and is, therefore, outsidechronological time. It is a time full of silences.

Expressing our theories to others trans-forms a world which is not intrinsically ours into something shared.

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?

Weshouldlistentothechildrensothat their wordsgiveusthecouragefor the futureandhelpustofinda newwayto dialoguewiththe childrenandwith ourselves

Weshouldlistentothechildren,sothattheycanexpresstheirfearsbut alsofor themlo giveusthecourageto faceour fears,for themandwith them.

Because all are very involved in what they are doing, she does not impose her ideas on them. However, she does instruct them on matters of technique—showing them how to roll and cut the clay and use the tools.)

our research team was impressed by the depth of discussion and lack 2of 2defensiveness 2by 2teachers

no outcomes decided before the journey begins.

Although this openness adds a dimension of difficulty to their work, it also makes it more exciting:

Educators in Reggio Emilia do not consider the teacher’s role to be an easy one, with black and white answers guiding what teachers should do. They do possess, however, the confidence and sense of security that their approach to teaching, developed collectively over the past 50 years in Reggio Emilia, is the way they should be working

children are deeply reinforced and validated for their efforts and pro-vided a boost to memory that is critical at their young age

The teachers work in co-teaching pairs in each classroom. The co-teaching organization is considered difficult, because the two adults must co-adapt and accommodate constantly, but nevertheless, it is powerful because it requires each adult to become used to peer collaboration, acquire a value for the social nature of intellectual growth, and become more able to help children (and parents) as they undertake joint learning and decision making

hat makes the children want to continue the game with us, developing, perhaps, other games as we go along. (Filippini, 1990)

aking 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.

but instead constantly undergoes revision

a supporter of the competent child

[W]e need a teacher who is sometimes the director, sometimes the set designer, sometimes the curtain and the backdrop, and sometimes the prompter. A teacher who is both sweet and stern, who is the electrician, who dispenses the paints, and who is even the audience—the audience who watches, sometimes claps, some-times remains silent, full of emotion, who sometimes judges with skepticism, and at other times applauds with enthusiasm. (Loris Malaguzzi, quoted in Rinaldi,

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.

when working together, peers at similar levels of development build ideas and enhance one another's understanding of the world around them.

His classmates shared his excitement. 'Take a picture of my finger n

the importance of slowing down.

evelopmental psychologists and early childhood educators increasingly under-stand that play is crucial to the well-being and development of children, and is the main activity through which children seek and find meaning

his drawing conveys with artistic precision the sense of smallness that children often experience in the world of

If children do indeed speak using 100 languages, then in order to understand what children are saying, adults must lis-

Overactivity 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 in

redictable. We need to be open to what takes placeand able to change our plans and go with what

he expec-tations that the children have of the adults and theadults have of the children are important.

Ateacherwhoisusuallypreparedinthevisualarts(butalsoinotherexpressivearts)workscloselywithth

eyusetheirinterpretationsanddiscussionstomakechoicesthattheysharewiththechildren.

Theimageofthechild.Allchildrenhavepreparedness,potential,curiosity;theyhaveinterestinrelationship,inconstructingtheirownlearning,andinnegotiatingwitheverythingtheenvironmentbringstothem.Childrenshouldbeconsideredasactivecitizenswithrights

ormulatenewinterpretationsandnewhypothesesandideasaboutlearningandteachingthroughtheirdailyobservationsandpracticeoflearningalongwiththechildren.

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