The Reggio Emilia Approach may not be new to some people but it may be to others, however I think that the innovative approaches it have on fostering learning during early childhood provides children with approaches to learning that could enhance their learning domains.
The Reggio Emilia Approach was developed by a former teacher Loris Malaguzzi. The educational approach got its name from a city called Reggio Emilia that is located in Italy. The approach to education is an educational philosophy focused on preschool and primary education. It was influenced by early childhood psychologists and philosophers, Dewey, Piaget, Vygotsky, Gardner, and Bruner.
The principles of the Reggio Emilia philosophy consist of children having some control over the direction of their learning, children being able to learn through experiences of touching, moving, listening, seeing, and hearing, children having a relationship with their peers and with material items in the world that they are allowed to explore, and children having endless ways and opportunities to express themselves.
Families are valuable to the Reggio Emilia philosophy. Parents are consider to be partners, collaborators and advocates in their children education, therefore they are respected to be the children's first teachers. Teachers are not just instructors but co-learner and collaborator with the children. They are expected to be apart of the children's play by engaging open-ended questions and developing lesson plans that are basic on the children's interest. The childcare environment is equip with materials that are accessible to the children encouraging them to explore, create, and imagine.
I hope to get the opportunity to visit a childcare facility in Reggio Emilia, Italy one day.
What other insights you may have about The Reggio Emilia Approach?
What fascinates you about the Reggio Emilia Approach?
Take a view:
Here is the Loris Malaguzzi International Center
http://www.thearchitectureofearlychildhood.com/2011/09/reggio-emilias-loris-malaguzzi.html
