at the end of which out come identical shoes or cups or pencils or whatever else is being manufactured.
This so reminds me of the Alan Watt video! This is a sad but too often true representation of what our educational system has become. I am hopeful though that change is coming!!
I suggest that it could be useful for leaders, staff, and parents to come together to create their own list of answers to the question: "What experiences should our children have much of the time in their early years, and no doubt in their later years as well?"
I think that this is a wonderful question to ask both my colleagues and families! I wonder if their answers (particularly those of our Admin and coaches) will match our district's push towards Common Core?? I can imagine that what they really believe to be important experiences for children will not include most of these standards. I will definitely include this question in future conversations with my families. :)
occasional, real experiences of solving a problem, re-making something that was not successful the first time, and other experiences of overcoming difficulties can strengthen a child's confidence and become a lifelong disposition.
I think is also teaches children perseverance and resilience.
occasional, but informative, feedback
I think that this helps to further develop relationships between children and teachers as well. Children know when you have a genuine interest in their interests and in their work.
Feelings of belonging and feeling welcomed■ Feelings of being taken seriously and respected■ Feeling what it is like to understand some thingsbetter (or more deeply)■ Experience of applying their developing skills inpurposeful and meaningful ways■ Being intellectually engaged and challenged■ Experience of overcoming setbacks and obstacles■ Experience of offering suggestions to peers andhelping them understand something better■ Experience of taking initiative, appropriate respon-sibilities, making some choices, and so forth
I love these! Many of them are actually similar to the Social-Emotional and Cognitive learning objectives that my school district uses. :)
what standards of experience should we provide for our young children?
It would be so wonderful to have standards of experience! Standards that allowed for individual development based on individual needs, that speak to the competencies and capabilities of children and meet them where they at.
These outcomes are rationalized as ways to get children 'ready for school, ready to 'succeed' in school, and to perform well on test of academic skills.
It is so disheartening to speak of "child readiness". It does such a disservice to so many children. It robs them of the opportunity and space to be children free to explore, learn, make mistakes, try, and make sense of the world for themselves in favor of performing during standardized assessment. I think of some of my former students that have made leaps and bounds in both social and academic development of the course of the school year but still fall short according to"readiness" as they enter kindergarten.
"Common Core Standards"
There is a greater push every year in my school district towards ECE alignment with the Common Core Standards. We have virtual planning meetings with our kindergarten team to find commonalities between our learning objectives and their CC standards in hopes of making the transition to kindergarten as developmentally appropriate and familiar as possible. Overall we find that the CC standards are such a far reach from what we are doing in ECE and not at all developmentally appropriate.
creativework of theteachers and atelieristi
I love the collaboration around documentation in Reggio Emilia between the teachers and the aterlieristi! I have never collaborated with anyone around a piece or series of documentation. I think that is would be wonderful to discuss, share, and come to a shared understanding around an experience.
Our school hadalready guaranteed thepractice of working with the same children the for the continuum of three years
This is something that we have been thinking about doing in my school. I would love to keep my children over several years. I think it would be amazing to see and be a part of their growth over several years.
Participation by parents to infant/toddler centers and preschools forchildren with special needs
The collaboration and partnership between all of the stakeholders in the lives of children with special rights is truly inspiring. I want to do more in my school to create early partnerships with my families and children with special rights.
The children set to painting out in the public for all to see
That is awesome!! :) It must have been such a valuable experience for both the children and the on-lookers. What a wonderful way to showcase the strong image of children!
atelier,
I absolutely love the idea of having an atelier! My context is within a traditional public school. My children go to the art room once a week and have art with our art teacher but the experience is nothing like that of an atelier with an atelierista. I have been adding materials each year to our classroom art studio in an attempt to create a mini-atelier. It is getting better but I still have much to learn. :)
valuing children's languages of expression
That is fantastic! I believe that all children deserve to have someone that values their languages of expression! Beautiful!
f you don’t debate professionally, you won’t grow.
So true!! :)
work in a state of uncertainty because I do not know where the children will arrive to, but it is a fabulous experience!
This is awesome!! :)
ystematic documentation allows each teacher to become a producer of research—that is, someone who generates new ideas about curriculum and learning, rather than being merely a consumer of certainty and tradition.
What a fantastic way to think about documentation and its impact and way to think about the process of learning!
revisit their own and others’ feelings, perceptions, observations, and reflections, and then to reconstruct and reinter-pret them in deeper ways
I am very intrigued about the process of revisiting documentation. This is something that I want to do more of. I would love to hear more about how you all have started the process of revisiting documentation!
co-teaching organization is considered difficult
I have always really loved the co-teaching model. It allows for constant collaboration and a coming together of insights and perspectives. We are able to reflect and bounce ideas of one another and work together to plan for extensions of learning.
co-action of children.
I love this! It truly honors the children as being the co-authors of their learning. :)
so that the teacher can pick up an idea and return it to the group, and thereby make their discussion and action more significant.
We have been experimenting with this at my school. Discussion that come about as a result of something we have observed are always so rich! The children are full invested in the experience because it has come from one of them. :)
the teacher needs to enter into a kind of intellectual dialogue with the group of children and join in their excitement and curiosity.
This is the beauty of being a teacher!! To be able to engage with little minds and find joy and excitement in experiences every day! :)
n fact, 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.
I completely agree! As teachers, we should always be open to change, be reflective of our practice and its impact on our children, and be willing to learn.
borrow assistance
This is true facilitation of learning! :)
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
I always try to be attentive to my children and listen to what they are saying but it is hard. It is hard to be fully present all the time especially with the demands of the schedule and regulations of our program. I find myself intentionally seeking out moments when I can be fully present to really listen and hear what my children are saying.
Your image of the child: Where teaching begins”
I believe this to be so true! At my school we prioritize putting children first. To me this speaks to this quote. Our teaching begin with the image of the child.
I also absolutely love the role of the teacher as defined by Reggio Emilia! It encompasses what I believe our roles as educators should be! :)
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.
I absolutely love this image of what a teacher should be!! All children deserve to have someone it their corner to be their cheerleader and guide through the process of education.
The older children had very few ideas about infants' competencies, however, when interviewed in a quiet con-ference room away from the infants.
This speaks to the importance of observation! We must observe to truly understand.
·1rs my finger!" he exclaimed. His classmates shared his excitement. 'Take a picture of my finger next:
I love this! What we as adults seek to fix, the children marvel at. How wonderful is this!! :)
tion-the intriguing shapes and splashes of puddles, the intricate
Children truly seize the day! They are able to take joy in individual moments! This is something that I strive to do in my own life. To take the time to be fully present in every situation.
"listening' to very young children does not necessarily mean taking all their utterances at face value, but it does mean observing the nuances"
This makes me think of the process of observing and documenting. We observe with objectivity capturing the thoughts and conversation of children -- the what and then use of subjectivity to interpret their words and bring meaning and connection to them -- understanding the what.
"listening not just with our ears but with all our senses
This is so true!! I can't say that I have ever consciously thought about listening in this way. We can absolutely hear and understand what children are saying by engaging with them using all of our senses! This is magic!
o it does not depend on the age of the teller, but on the sensitivity of the listener.
What an awesome statement! Everyone regardless of age has something to say, it is our responsibility to want to listen. :)
lives. The profound thoughts of this small group of children led Boulder Journey School faculty to wonder, "How can we give voice to all the children at the school,
The is amazing! I love that the children have really thought out and expressed their rights. We come u with class agreements together each year for how we want to interact within our classroom and with each other. I would love to extend our conversation around our agreements to begin with conversation about their rights!
ight to run or walk
Wow! This really makes me think of all the times I have told my children that we have to walk in the hallway. Why? There is no real danger in running particularly if the hallway is empty. We tell children to walk to because we have always been told to walk. We tell children to walk to maintain order. I love that these children proclaimed that they have choose and that they also are competent in deciding which safe and in which situations! :)
"But only if it's okay, like you won't hurt somebody and it's not safe . . . because the other person has a right to not be hurt too, right?·
I absolutely love this!! :)
"l, 2, 3, 4 ... we don't want your muddy war."
This is fantastic! I agree Jacqueline! I also love that the BJS encourages the children's right to expression! As a school we participated in a march around our school block for Black Lives Matter. The children and their families made signs for the march and we created chants together. We started with a conversation about diversity and how all people are the same under their skin. It was so amazing to hear the perspectives of the children. :)
The teacher has to be the author of a play,someone who thinks ahead of time. Teachers alsoneed to be the main actors in the play, the protago-nists. The teacher must forget all the lines he knewbefore and invent the ones he doesn’t remember.Teachers also have to take the role of the prompter,the one who gives the cues to the actors. Teachersneed to be set designers who create the environmentin which activities take place. At the same time, theteacher needs to be the audience who applauds.
This is such an amazing description of our roles as facilitators of learning! :) It encompasses everything that a teacher should be!
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.
This is so true! When children feel that you are fully engaged with them in their learning process you can see them open up, share, take risks, hypothesize, and blossom because they feel safe in doing so.
When the child sees that theadult is there, totally involved with the child, thechild doesn’t forget. This is something that’s right forus and it’s right for the children
I believe in this so much! My struggle though is finding enough time to be fully present while keeping up with all that we have to do in our school schedule. It is very frustrating! :(
What we want to do isactivate within children the desire and will and greatpleasure that comes from being the authors of theirown learning
Yesss!! How beautiful is this!! Allowing children to become the authors of their own learning!
I wonder though how to allow for this time and still adhere to the learning standards of my school district? I feel like we are under constant pressure to observe a set of learning objectives that don't always seem to match with our children becoming the authors of their learning. :(
He feelsthe joy of working with adults who value his workand this is one of the bases for learning.
This statement makes my heart so happy! This is what education is about...allowing our children to truly feel valued for their work and contributions. In doing so, we also help them to fell comfortable with taking risks, making mistakes, and trying again.
Each one of us needs to have curiosity, and we needto be able to try something new based on the ideasthat we collect from the children as they go along.
This is magic!! This makes learning so exciting and engaging for us and our children!
Children are not at all like this, predictable. Butsometimes schools function as if they were; these areschools with no joy.
Yessss!!! This is such a sad reality. School should always be a joyful experience! It starts with my mindset of the adults.
you carry with youpieces of your life — your happiness, your sadness,your hopes, your pleasures, the stresses from yourlife.
This is very true! We (in my school district) are often told to leave all of the pieces at the door. While I understand that we can not let negative pieces (for example if something has angered us) affect our work with our children, I believe that being genuine with children strengthens our relationships with them and helps to build empathy, compassion, and concern. It also helps children understand that it is okay to feel all of their emotions.
They understandwhether the adults are working together in a trulycollaborative way or if they are separated in someway from each other, living their experience as if itwere private with little interaction.
This is so true!! I feel so very fortunate to have a team that truly works together, is supportive of one another, values relationships with families, and wants to do what is best for children!! We prioritize building community in each of our classrooms and it starts with the community of teachers.
An environment that grows out ofyour relationship with the child is unique and fluid.
I love this!! This has been an evolution for me too. Thinking back to my first few years my students walked into an environment that I created for them, and environment that they had very little influence over. Now, this is one of my favorite aspects but creating our class space, providing my students with an empty slate and working with them to create our environment together over time that reflects and honors everyone. :)
This theory within you pushes you to behave incertain ways; it orients you as you talk to the child,listen to the child, observe the child.
This statement makes me think back to how the image I hold for children has changed and become more defined over the years. I have always believed that all children are able to learn but now I honor and appreciate that children are capable and able contributors to their own learning and that I am learning as much as they are alongside them.
Notapre-setcurriculumbutaprocessofinvitingandsustaininglearning
We have been approaching the curriculum in this way at my school in the last few years whenever possible (we have a curriculum and suggested scope and sequence set forth by the District). My students have been so much more invested when we follow their lead! They feel valued and heard and have an ownership in their learning.
Teachersandchildrenaspartnersinlearning
I absolutely love this! We have and much to learn from the children as they have from us. It is so amazing to be able to take a step back and really engage and collaborate with the ideas and perspectives of the children.
co-responsiblepartners.
At my school, this is very evident in the younger grades. Our families are extremely involved and supportive. Historically however, as the children get older (beyond Kgn.), participation seems to drop off, despite our school's best efforts to prioritize Family Engagement. In the last few years we have prioritized our partnerships with families and I am happy to say our whole school family engagement is on the rise!
relationships
This is truly the way education should be thought of and implemented -- as a relationship between all of the invested parties that come together to do what is best for children.
specialrights
What a fantastic and positive way to address children with exceptionalities!
learningalongwiththechildren.
I absolutely love this! We as educators, are afforded the opportunity to learn from the insights and viewpoints of our children everyday. It is so amazing to see things through the eyes of a child!
participationbyparents
I am so impressed by the extent to which parents and families are truly partners to the schools in Reggio Emilia-- From the conception to the actual building of the centers! Family engagement is a huge part of the culture of my school and I looking forward to learning more about this relationship in the schools in Reggio Emilia and in the inspired schools in the States.