| Prior to attending the Summer Symposium,
I had a great respect for the Reggio Emilia philosophy. I
realized the importance of providing beautiful learning environments
and listening to children as they express and represent their
many interests and their needs to explore a variety of concepts
in meaningful ways. I have found it difficult to accept a
predominantly teacher-directed approach to working with young
children, even when the focus is more academic such as with
math or literacy development. After attending the Symposium,
I realized that the Reggio Emilia approach to teaching and
learning significantly enhances literacy growth as well as
growth in all developmental areas.
The Symposium began with a slide show, rich with images of
children who were actively engaged in discovery using a variety
of materials that were neatly and functionally organized and
displayed. It was obvious from the slides that much of the
work done at the Opal school, where the symposium was held,
is initiated by the children and cleverly supported by the
teachers. Intentionality is the word that came to my mind
over and over again during the course of the four-day workshop.
Intentionality was evident in the beautifully designed classrooms,
from the display of projects and materials, to the documentation
that was prepared by the children and teachers in the classroom.
Children at the Opal school are encouraged to represent their
thoughts, ideas and questions in a variety of languages including
black line drawings, painting, clay, wire, music, words, shadow
play, puppetry, etc. Children are greatly valued and respected
in this learning environment, which very clearly supports
Howard Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences. Every
child possesses a measure of the eight Intelligences; however,
each child also has his or her own preferred Intelligence(s).
I was struck by the thoughtfulness of the teachers and how
they deliberately make available to children on a daily basis,
tools and materials for the children to express themselves
and provide opportunities for children to become engaged in
both short and long term projects of interest where their
discoveries are represented by various media. Children are
encouraged to develop relationships with their peers and adults
through collaborative projects.
A great emphasis within the Reggio Emilia philosophy, which
is widely implemented in the Opal school, is placed on relationships
with individuals, nature and the environment. There is much
to be learned when a child is given the time and space to
interact with nature. Ensuring science is integrated into
the curriculum is a great way of supporting children in learning
concepts such as theory and hypothesis development which supports
language and cognitive learning, math, spatial relationships
and so on. Teachers pay close attention to the children and
listen as they decide what they would like to learn more about
and provide them with the necessary tools and materials to
become researchers and scientists.
It was exciting to see the impact that creating and nurturing
relationships between peers and teacher-child relationships
has on academic and social development. Of course, our hope
is that all children are engaged in meaningful relationships
with family and friends, although the reality is, there are
some children for whom allowing others into their world is
difficult. How wonderful to know that those of us who have
been given the privilege of working with children have the
ability to establish, nurture and maintain relationships with
the children in our program on almost a daily basis.
Equally as important as the development of all kinds of relationships
is the emphasis that is placed on literacy development. Teachers
skillfully weave literacy into the curriculum through the
use of story telling, drama, puppetry, and other languages
that are all vehicles into the world of literacy. Children
are able to create their own stories and develop the characters
in their stories using rich language to describe the settings
and the events that occur in their stories. Publishing with
children gives them opportunities to learn about chronology,
exposure to context, words and editing. Children recognize
the endless possibilities of literacy development within a
literate world and are given an additional means to help make
sense of their world through the written word, which they
enjoy representing through illustrations and dialog.
As teachers are intentional in their planning for literacy
development in the learning environment, children realize
the importance of literacy and will undoubtedly join in the
excitement when literacy and its various elements are introduced
in manners that appeal to their individual interests.
Although the written word is powerful, and it is important
that our children learn the letters of the alphabet and the
individual letter sounds, the various expressions of literacy,
(drawing, painting, music, etc.) that are used by children
are equally powerful and of great importance in children’s
overall development.
What I learned from the literacy workshop is that literacy
is more than the ability to read and write. I realize that
literacy is all around me, all around our children. There
are so many opportunities during a day that children are exposed
to and can contribute to a rich literacy environment in our
Head Start classrooms.
My hope is that I will be able to support teachers better
in acting as a partner, nurturer and guide in children’s
journey of literacy development while encouraging teachers
to look carefully at and listen to the various languages our
children prefer to use and nurture those languages in an effort
to further support literacy development as well as their growth
in all developmental areas. A wise person once told me, “Meaningful
learning is only made possible through deeper levels of respect
and commitment to children, not simply offering age appropriate
activities and finding new ways to control children’s
actions and behaviors”.
Listening is the basis for any learning relationship. Through
action and reflection, learning takes shape in the mind of
the subject and, through representation and exchange, becomes
knowledge and skill. -Carlina Renaldi
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