Reggio Emilia

In Italy, there is a town that has flipped early childhood education on its head. The Reggio Emilia Approach came into being at the end of World War II, where parents were the foundation for the new style of education. The focus is placed on each child's needs, making Reggio Emilia a unique, individualized learning experience (Gandini, 1993). The curriculum is not planned ahead of time like in traditional US preschools. Instead, teachers come forward with general ideas, allowing for students to have more involvement in projects. Projects can span from a few days to a few months depending on complexity.

What I found most inspiring and different from conventional early childhood education seen in the US, is how teachers work together in pairs, creating a dialogue of what instruction is working for children and what may need to be reevaluated. Team teaching allows for instructors to continuously adapt to the students needs, as opposed to creating lesson plans that all students must complete in a specific time and manner. The teachers also take documentation of students work very seriously as it serves the purpose of marking the students progress, keeping parents connected to the school, and acts as a teaching aid for future students and teachers.

As a future teacher, I look to the Reggio Emilia aesthetic as inspiration for how I will set up my classroom for students. There is a great difference between the two preschool classrooms I have used as examples. The Reggio Emilia classroom is bright, airy and filled with plant life and organic materials, while the traditional US classroom stands in glaring opposition with is colorful walls, carpets, and furniture, never giving the eye a chance to rest. After being exposed to Reggio Emilia I must question why US preschools are presented in such a garish manner? What everyday space are they trying to recreate if no space I am aware of looks so clown-like? The Reggio Emilia classroom looks much like that of a college art studio, with blank, bright walls that will not compete against an artist's work. Although I plan to work at the secondary level of education, I believe there are so many elements of the organic, neutral color scheme that can be applied to a high school classroom (as well as my personal studio) making it an inviting, neutral space for creative learning.

A classroom in Boston, MA following the Reggio Emilia classroom aesthetic

A classroom in Lessburg, VA following the conventional classroom aesthetic commonly found in America

#Blog2 #ReggioEmilia #UGA #ArtEducation #ARED2110

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Sources:

Reggio Emilia preschool: https://wonderoflearningboston.org/wonder-of-learning-boston-concludes-run-at-boston-university/

Traditional preschool: https://playtolearnpreschool.us/classroom/#

Gandini, L., (1993). Fundamentals of the reggio emilia approach to early childhood education. Young Children, 49(1), 4-8.