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What is Reggio Emilia Education? by Manuela Coppock, Director of Great Kids Academy
When I talk with parents about what Reggio Emilia Education is and means, I get often the respond:“Oh it is like Montessori…..”. Yes it seems like this when you take a first look at us, but when you take a second look at us you realize we are also different from Montessori Education. Reggio Emilia Education was developed in Italy after World War II and it still attracts world wide attention. If you ask Educators, who are aware of this education here in the United States, you will realize they are very excited about it. Reggio Emilia Education is one of the best, if not even the best education system, where you want to send your children to. The Teachers of this education do not see your child as an empty vessel what has to be filled with knowledge. They see your child as an individual person, who has already knowledge and talents, who is searching for more and it is using”100 languages” to interact with the world around it. Like in Montessori Education, different materials are a very important medium in Reggio Emilia Education and it is often called the” third teacher”. One different between Montessori and Reggio Education is in the use of material. In “Montessori” all materials have only educational meaning and the teacher is using it for specific learning steps. In “Reggio” material has also an experimental and self defining meaning. That means, that children can choose materials and give them a new (maybe one for us not understandable) meaning and use it to communicate with the world around them. In the first few weeks of a beginning school year the teachers observe the interaction between the children to choose the materials for the atelier (art room) to strengthen certain areas of group development or to create new once. It is really amazing to see, that specific materials have certain affects on children’s behavior. For example a child who had a problem to control his anger was given clay to work with over a longer period of time. The teachers turned the problem into creativity and gave him a way to control his anger by putting all his aggression into hitting, preparing und forming the clay. Another different between “Montessori” and “Reggio” is the teaching approach towards children. In “Montessori” the teacher is the one who presents projects or ideas for projects based on the lesson plan. In “Reggio” children and teachers are working together as a team to develop projects. Children ideas are a great resource and are taken very serious by the teacher. Children can give a great input for developing projects and how they will continue. An example of the process developing a project and its results is given in this Reggio Emilia section at “The Hundred Languages Of Children”. Another very important medium in Reggio Emilia Education is documentation. The teachers document projects and activities of the children thru taking pictures or Video recording. The displays give the children and the teachers the chance to reflect on the results and experiences of projects, to talk about it and often the idea will be developed to revisit a project to chance their results or to improve a project. These documentations are also great for the parents, because they can not only see the result of a project of their children; they can see the process and share this information with the children. There are of course more parallels and differences between these two educations. I personally prefer Reggio Education over Montessori Education, because of the wider spectrum of activities and the way to see a child as a unique individual with ideas and talents who is able to contribute to the learning experience. I worked for about 5 years in this education as a teacher in Germany. I saw the development in the children and when it was time to go to school, they were ready for the next steps in life. I like to encourage parents to read the following articles about Reggio Emilia Education to get a deeper look into what this great program means for the development of your children.
The Best Kept Secret is an article about Reggio Emilia Education by Gary Stager. Some Lesson for U.S. Educators is an article from the Educational Resource Information Center. The Hundred Languages of Children - The Reggio Emilia Approach - Advanced Reflection is a great book written by Carolyn Edwards, Lella Gandini and George Forman |
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