Reggio Emilia Approach

Principles

Children are active participants of their learning. 

They are naturally curious and willing to learn. They are in continuous interaction with the world around them, they discover, experiment, communicate, understand.....they learn! In Reggio we trust children, we let ourselves be guided by their interests and enthusiasm. There are small or complex projects born at our school and throughout them we learn and discover a lot of things even though it might look just like we play all the time. Learning is a fascinating fun!

The environment is a third teacher. 

Class interiors change with project themes and offer various materials for creative art. Ordinary and unordinary materials are nicely presented in a reach of children and are inviting them to touch them. Reggio schools have also their atelier where children can work in small groups on creative projects. The environment of the school is a source of inspiration and the reflection of the children's world at the same time. The learning is often overpassing/ expanding the school, going out to explore the real world. Within projects children visit many interesting places....

Parents as partners

We perceive parents as partners, they have a key role in education of children. That is why we invite parents to participate in school life and projects creating a whole community to educate our children. Teachers and parents communicate on a daily basis. School invites parents for events with kids and meetings for parents to discuss any questions, problems or subjects about education. Children learn that they take a part in a larger community to which they can contribute.

Teachers document the process of learning. 

They become observers and documentarists of the learning at school and so help to see the process of development of children. They take photographs, notes, record their thoughts, collect their drawings and creations to make portfolios, project posters and other presentations. This documentation then serves to teachers and parents as a great source of information about the process and principles of the child's learning. Children themselves can see their progress, compare, and reflect.

Together we can set up for an adventurous explorative journey and reach the depths of understanding. Let’s open our minds and let’s share this enormous enthusiasm that leads us through. „If you really want to teach, do not seek the well known paths but teach the magic of life“ Giorgio Gaber

Story

After World War II people in Reggio Emilia (Italy) were shocked by what had happened. They were thinking what they could do so that this would never happen again. How to provide abetter future for our children? They came to a conclusion that the better future comes with their kids and they also recognized the key role of the early childhood education.

And so they started building schools from the war ruins. Soon after a pedagogue named Loris Malaguzzi, joined them and became the main representative and co-creator of this approach in education. The group of parents and educators became larger and larger and set up more nurseries, preschools and schools in this region. This community gave a name to a new educational approach – Reggio Emilia.

In 1980, the philosophy Reggio Emilia got known over the world especially thanks to the international exhibition in Sweden. In 1994 the first Association of Reggio Children was born and in 2006 The International Loris Malaguzzi Center was opened where educators from all over the world meet and educate themselves.

Reggio certainly shares some of the values of other well known schools like Steiner or Montessori, but it is not a philosophy with a given system of principles and rules, it is rather an approach coming out of the principles of children's learning. “All these values are interpreted in different ways depending on the various schools and their contexts.” (Susan Lyon) “ Two Reggio schools cannot be the same.”