An Encounter with Reggio Emilia
Children and adults in transformation
- 100 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
About This Book
The documentation of young children's learning plays a vital role in the pre-schools of Reggio Emilia. This leading edge approach to bringing record-keeping and assessment into the heart of young children's learning is envied and emulated by educators around the world.
The fully revised 2nd edition of An Encounter with Reggio Emilia is based upon a documentary approach to children's learning successfully implemented by Stirling Council in Scotland, whose pre-school educators experienced dramatic improvements in their understandings about young children, how they learn and the potential unleashed in successfully engaging families in the learning process.
This approach, which is based on careful listening to children and observation of their interests and concerns, centres around recording and commentating on children's learning through photos, wall displays, videos and a variety of different media. The authors include chapters on
ā¢ Why early years educators should use documentation as a means to enhance young children's learning
ā¢ The values, principles and theories that underlie the 'Reggio' approach
ā¢ How to implement documentations into any early years setting, with real-life case studies and hints for avoiding common pitfalls
ā¢ How to involve, inspire and enthuse familiar and the wider community.
This text is an important read for any individual working with young children or interested in the using 'The Reggio Inspired Approach' in their early years settings
Frequently asked questions
Information
1 Why the documentation approach to early learning?
Documentation can be seen as narratives of children's and teachersā lives; they are a way of telling the story of one's contribution to a community.(Dahlberg 1999: 182)
Why documentation?
- how children learn and construct meaning;
- the amazing ability and potential of children;
- ourselves as adult learners and our interactions with children and with each other;
- the cultural importance of families and communities.
The rights of children should be respected
States Parties shall assure to the child who is capable of forming his or her own views the right to express those views freely in all matters affecting the child, the views of the child being given due weight in accordance with the age and maturity of the child ā¦ The child shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of the child's choice.
Adults should be able to listen and respond
Taking action takes courage. Taking action as result of listening to children means sometimes having to change decisions already made. It sometimes shows up gaps in our adult thinking and understanding. Taking action means that we have to recognise and acknowledge this or admit that we were wrong and, perhaps more importantly, that we do not have all the knowledge.(Kinney quoted in Clark et al. 2005: 122)
Children as participators
Children as active social agents
Children as meaning makers
Children as co-constructors of learning
The pedagogy of listening
The Hundred Languages of Children
The image of the child as rich and resourceful
Table of contents
- Cover
- Half Title Page
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Preface
- Foreword
- Acknowledgements
- What is this book about?
- What have been our ongoing and current challenges?
- Sustaining pedagogical documentation through professional development contexts: to summarise
- Where does this leave us?
- 1 Why the documentation approach to early learning?
- 2 What do we mean by the documentation approach?
- 3 What does the documentation approach look like in practice?
- 4 Reaching new understandings
- 5 Reflections, and what next?
- Glossary
- Bibliography
- Index