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The Key Ideas Associated With Early Years Education

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Critically examine the key ideas associated with early years education in Reggio Emilia. What might be learned from such practices?

Reggio Emilia, a small town situated in Northern Italy which over the past fifty years has become a renowned focal point for those in early years education circles. Shortly after the conclusion of World War 2 the infamous Reggio Emilia approach was coined by a young innovative teacher Loris Malaguzzi. Malaguzzi founded this unique system after joining forces with the parents of the region after recognising the need for childcare for young children and parents to return to the workforce to allow the city to rebuild its infrastructure after sustaining extensive damage during the world war. The approach itself …show more content…

The belief that children are competent learners provides an environment which allows children to realise and expand their potential, the Reggio Emilia approach outlines how every child possess ideas which should be acknowledged, questioned and challenged to stimulate that child 's knowledge. Malaguzzi was famously quoted saying how a child has got a hundred languages and born with “a lot of possibilities” (Dahlberg, Moss & Pence, 2013). The Reggio approach demonstrates how these different languages can be portrayed in various ways by children such as drawing, dancing, painting, playing and through music to name a few. Consequently all these methods of learning are valued highly and nurtured in the classroom and used as a way of learning rather than a way of play. The approach from Reggio Emilia places an impetus on hands on practical learning for children as they use all their senses to learn and develop. Early years learning establishments in England could undoubtedly learn from the Reggio Emilia model which places children in a position empowering them to control their learning as they investigate what they want. English practices could take on board Malaguzzi’s approach of the hundred different languages fuller than they already do and the belief that every area of learning should be held in equal value in the classroom is extremely

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