Regggio Theoroach : The Reggio Approach

On the opposite side of the continuum, the Reggio Emilia approach is a programme that is centred on the principles of respect, responsibility, and community. It is based on the interests of the children through a self-guided curriculum with no early learning goals or inspections.

While there is no fixed curriculum or one specific model to emulate, the Reggio Emilia approach does have some essential components, some fundamental ideas about how children learn most effectively. The utmost is the idea that the young child is inherently competent not only as a learner but as an initiator. The child has preferences and opinions that have value and should be listened to with respect and care, knowing that they have much to offer their classroom community and community at large. This pedagogy plays a large role in shaping the Reggio classroom. It allows the children to pursue projects which are interesting and meaningful and then allowing adequate time to follow those projects with passion.

Reggio Emilia approach is a curriculum that emerges from the children’s ideas, thoughts and observations. One of the main aspect of the Reggio Emilia approach is the hundred languages of children. Children use different ways of thinking, they discover learning through painting, modelling and music, pretend play and drawing. The Reggio approach emphasises that children learn best by hands-on discovery, as it allows the children to use all of their senses and their languages to learn.

The Reggio Emilia Approach was founded by Loris Malaguzzi in Reggio Emilia, Italy in the 1960s. An Educational Psychologist, Malaguzzi created an approach to education that put the child at the center of it all (Reggio Emilia Approach). The Reggio Emilia Approach considers the child to have strong individual talents and potentials. The students are the most active, involved, and important members of the classroom. Students in Reggio Emilia schools learn about themselves in relation to other people and their environment. The child is seen not as an empty vessel that needs to be filled with facts and data, but an autonomous individual capable of great potential (Kelemen,

I am going to discuss and focus on Lee Vygotsky and his theory of Constructivism. One of Lee Vygotsky main theories was in fact constructivism; it is interesting to read about Lee Vygotsky view on constructivism as it is about how people learn and is based on a scientific study. One of the main meanings behind constructivism is “Constructivism is people who construct their own understanding and

Reggio Emilia is a child driven methodology where children are enriched within their environment as well as communication from their peers. Reggio Emilia schooling is an innovative approach for preschoolers and kindergarteners. Teachers are considered co learners with the children. The classroom environment is considered a “third teacher” while the children are seen as obtaining a “hundred languages”. Reggio Emilia schooling can be viewed as an out of the box and unorganized approach to learning due to excluding a written curriculum. Reggio Emilia has been viewed as highly unstructured with a high chance of bullying to develop. Reggio Emilia is an unconventional way of providing students with a manipulative environment including co-learners

In 1945, Loris Malaguzzi founded the first Reggio school. His Reggio education dominated the Italian education that was already in place. The approach of Reggio is community led, this involves everyone in their close community but also those from outside of the close community. Within Reggio, they repeat their ideas and activities, so that the children are able to revisit what they were doing the day before to further their understanding of what they were doing, but also get help if they need it. Reggio also allows the children to direct their own learning, so if they do not fully understand what they are doing at the time, then they can go back and revisit it to make sure they understand it, however if the children are

The great challenge for constructivism is that the world in which students and teachers interact is not utopian. Students come to class with predetermined ideas about a course, or with personal needs that distract from attention from the classroom experience. Some students are not willing or able to interact with peers due to emotional issues, thus

The constructivist pedagogy is when people learn through having different experiences and then using

“Reggio Emilia is an approach to education that originated in Reggio Emilia, Italy. Children are the emphasis of the program, it is child led and incorporates project based learning. Reggio Emilia is a flexible approach to curriculum, in Italian it is called progettazione. (Cross, 2006). The teachers generalize and wait to see what the children do with the topic and what type of prior knowledge they will used in the project. (Cross, 2006). The teacher may predict that the children will learn about a topic and based on the children’s reaction and prior knowledge. They may learn something else that was not expected by the teacher. Teachers take into consideration the interests of the child, encouraging children and parents to participate to provide provocations. (Cross, 2006). Family is an important role of Reggio Emilia. “Loris Malaguzzi who is the inspiration of Reggio Emilia preschools and founded the first non-Catholic preschool in Italy, strongly believe in connection with parents and believes in parent partnership to help build the whole child.” (Vodopivec, 2012). “The Reggio Emilia Approach was also known for incorporating many different developmentally practices in that were inclusive of early childhood special education” (Vakil, S, Freeman, R., & Swim, T. J,

The program model that I would recommend is the Project approach. The project approach is in close ties with the Reggio Emilia method that they are driven by authentic experiences and student’s interest. Project approach is an investigation done by a small group of children within a class, sometimes by a whole class, and sometimes by an individual child. The main goal of the project is that it is a search for answers to questions about a topic worth learning more about, something the children are interested in. This means integrating concepts and ideas across the curriculum. For example, children use math to measure, conduct research on their topic, and read all kinds of literature (fictional and informational) about their project. The project

Constructivism is learning through experiences in our environment. Using this method we are essentially teaching ourselves through occurrences in our environment. This method of learning is demonstrated In a early childhood classroom by teachers providing guided opportunities that allow for children to explore their environment in various ways. At the end of these activities the teacher typically initiates a class discussion on the information learning through an activity. An example of an activity you may see in a classroom could be a scavenger hunt where the students find an object to match every color; this could take place inside or

Constructivism is a coherent theory of learning that emerged as a prevailing paradigm in the last part of the twentieth century. Constructivism is a theory which brings cogitation to pedagogy (Bruner, 1966). Constructivism capitalizes on the ways in which human beings create their own personal construct of reality by understanding and experiencing the world. The main underlying assumption of constructivism is that individuals are actively involved right from the birth in constructing personal meaning.

Throughout my education, I had the benefit of attending fifteen different schools in various locations in the United States. This provided me with the opportunity to experience a variety of teaching methods and philosophies utilized by educators. Also, my son attended eight different schools in various states that provided me with additional exposure to various teaching methods. By using my past experiences along with my current studies, I lean heavily towards an overall constructivist philosophy, though each of the philosophies commonly referenced has aspects that are beneficial to students’ learning also.

There are five identified central tenets of constructivism as a teaching philosophy: Constructivist teachers seek and value students’ points of view. This concept is similar to the reflective action process we call withitness, in which teachers attempt to perceive students’ needs and respond to them appropriately; Constructivist teachers challenge students to see different points of view and thereby construct new knowledge. Learning occurs when teachers ask students what they think they know about a subject and why they think they know it; Constructivist teachers recognize that curricula must have meaning for students. When students see the relevance of curricula, their interest in learning grows; Constructivist teachers create lessons that tackle big ideas, not small bits of information. By seeing the whole first, students are able to determine how the parts fit together; Constructivist teachers assess student learning in daily classroom activities, not through the use of separate testing or evaluation events. Students