The Reggio Emilia Philosophy- How it connects to maker culture
The Reggio Emilia approach is an early education theory and practice developed in the town of Reggio Emilia, Italy. It has been recognized as one of the highest quality early childhood programs in the world. Teachers and researchers around the globe have identified the need for significant educational reform that shifts the focus from a teacher-directed model of teaching to a student-centered, constructivist approach to learning. Introducing aspects of the Reggio Emilia approach to students of any age would be a way to create a personalized learning environment.
In order to understand and draw parallels between the Reggio approach and the maker movement, it is necessary to describe the fundamental principles that underline the Reggio philosophy. The following six principles are listed by most scholars in Reggio Emilia as the philosophy’s fundamental guidelines (Cadwell, 2003; Gandini, 1993).
The image of the child
At the heart of the Reggio approach is the belief that children are “strong, rich and capable” (Cadwell, 1997, p.5). Reggio Emilia educators celebrate the image of a child as a complex, creative being with an endless desire to know and understand. They affirm and support children’s ability to have, and express, their own hypotheses and theories and encourage children to guide their own learning journeys (James, 2015). Children are viewed not as having needs but rather as protagonists with the rights to an education that allows them to collaborate and communicate with others in order to construct their own knowledge (Cutcher, 2013; Kocher, Edwards, Gandini, & Forman, 1998). This socio-constructivist model is rooted in Dewey’s constructivist philosophy that children are architects of their own learning and is key to understanding the underpinnings of the Reggio Emilia philosophy (Dodd-Nufrio, 2011). Malaguzzi (1994) believed that developing a child’s creative potential is a basic human right and was disdainful of educators who did not see the inherent rights, capabilities, and potential of young children.
Those you have the image of the child as fragile, incomplete,
weak, made of glass gain something from this belief only for
themselves. We don’t need that as an image of children. Instead
of always giving children protection, we need to give them the
recognition of their rights and of their strengths. (Malaguzzi, p. 56)
The environment as the third teacher
Providing a space that encourages and fosters exploration, autonomy, curiosity, and problem solving coupled with the use of natural lighting and variety of materials helps to foster participation and communication between learners.
When one begins to view a child as competent and creative, a value is also placed on the learning environment that supports the development of creativity and free thought. The aesthetic beauty of the classroom environments is one of the first things to strike visiting educators to Reggio Emilia. The classrooms are full of indoor plants, natural light, a purposeful use of space, and an abundance of creative materials. The educators in the preschools of Reggio Emilia place a high value on the aesthetic and physical environment of the school, often referring to it as the “third teacher” (Gandini, 1998, p. 177). The environment is viewed as a living, changing element that supports changing relationships between people and affects how students feel, think and behave (Kocher, 2006). Fraser (2006) describes how the design of learning spaces in Reggio Emilia reflect a philosophy of openness and transparency that invites participants to mingle and share ideas amongst classes. “The support of a complex variety of relationships is the enduring focus of decisions in the schools” with every part of the building serving a purpose (Fraser, 2006, p. 14). A vital part of each school is an ‘atelier’ or art studio that provides a wide range of media and materials for fostering creativity. The rich, stimulating studios are full of materials that allow students to express their thoughts and feelings through symbolic interpretations, innovative transformation and project work. Materials might include plant and organic items collected from nature, reclaimed and recycled objects from REMIDA, a recycled materials center in Reggio Emilia, or objects donated by students and families. The REMIDA project developed as a partnership with Reggio Schools in 1996 and functions as a storage, display, and supply of recycled and discarded materials to local schools and groups. Local companies donate industrial and craft ‘waste’ materials such as fabrics, plastic ends, and paper (Eckhoff & Spearman, 2009). REMIDA differs from most recycling centers in its approach to aesthetically displaying materials based on colour, shape and texture. Its collections of materials appear as artworks in their own right and is an integral support to the object-centered inquiry practice of Reggio Schools (Eckhoff & Spearman, 2009). Providing a space that encourages and fosters exploration, autonomy, curiosity, and problem solving coupled with the use of natural lighting and variety of materials helps to foster participation and communication between learners.
Collaboration and student teacher relationships
That emphasis on developing collaborative learning relationships is also evident in the way that Reggio Emilia-inspired educators fill the roles of partner, nurturer, guide, and fellow researcher (Edwards, 1998). Teachers view themselves as co-constructors of knowledge rather than all-knowing leaders imparting wisdom to the masses. Teachers work to provoke “occasions of genuine intellectual growth” (Edwards, 1998) by listening to students, extending their discussions and providing materials to create shared meaning. Stager and Martinez (2013) list the primary role of a teacher in Reggio Emilia as that of a researcher whose goal is to understand the thinking of each child. As opposed to traditional individually oriented educational approaches, Reggio Emilia values social relationships and collaboration as essential aspects of all learning. It is through listening, negotiation, discussion and exploration of divergent viewpoints that knowledge is gained. Participation by children, teachers and parents in a community context allows all participants to connect and learn by interacting with one another and their environment. Parents are invited contribute to project work by contributing to the building of resources and becoming a part of the learning conversation. Unique to the Reggio Emilia approach is the use of pedagogistas or pedagogical coordinators who support relationships between teachers, parents community members and students by encouraging discourse and constant reflection (Fraser, 2006). Their role is also to research innovative teaching practices and constantly re-examine and evaluate the value of the students’ project work. Students are provided with provocations (materials set up as invitations to explore), open ended questions, and are observed for interests and problems that could lead into long term research projects. For example, Krevesky et al. (2013) documents a kindergarten project that emerged from student conflict in a play area. Teachers observed students arguing over the use of a yellow door in a building block area. Students were asked to devise a solution to the problem and collectively, they decided to build more doors. In the process of researching doors, they collected data on door materials, size, appearance, and function. In small groups, students organized and shared data and used that information to design their own doors. With assistance, the designs were turned into real wooden doors for future use in the block area. In contrast, a traditional classroom model might have had the teacher solve the conflict by focusing on modifying the student behaviour and thereby missing the learning opportunity.
Documentation as communication
An important tool used to re-evaluate and analyze student work is done through the process of pedagogical documentation. Reggio-inspired documentation is credited with inspiring modern physical and digital portfolio assessments. Documentation takes the focus away from solely summative and standardized measures of student achievement and moves it toward a more qualitative and formative understanding of student understanding (Turner & Wilson, 2010). Reggio-inspired teachers routinely record the thinking and learning processes of children by transcribing, photographing and videoing group discussions and project work. Teachers strive to represent the thought processes, beliefs, and assumptions that students bring to their work. Representations of student thinking using quotes from children and pictures representing the evolution of their understanding are displayed as posters or books within the classroom or school setting. There are multiple purposes for documentation within a Reggio inspired classroom including communicating learning to parents/teachers/community, demonstrating to children that their work is valued, assessing teaching and learning, creating a historical archive, and fostering dialogue with other educators (Gandini, 1993). When shared amongst educators, documentation becomes a tool for teacher research, reflection, collaboration and decision making. Turner and Wilson (2010) in their round table discussion with Reggio Emilia thought leaders found that documentation is not just a teaching tool, but a pedagogical philosophy of knowing and valuing children. Documentation was also seen by those Reggio scholars as a way to challenge one’s ideas and a way to enable a new, adaptive form of teaching and learning that values constructing community and educating citizens (Turner & Wilson, 2010).
Digital Reggio
At first glance, the 50-year-old teaching and learning communities of Reggio Emilia seem to have little in common with the digital, online communities that students now encounter. However, advocates of the Reggio Emilia Approach pride themselves on constantly reinventing, analyzing, and incorporating new ideas into their teaching as opposed to traditional teaching models that often use a ‘one size fits all’ approach. This constant reflection also applies to continually growing in the knowledge and the application of technology. "In terms of Reggio and technological play specifically, Malaguzzi viewed computer literacy as just another of the hundred languages of children. He saw potential for children's self awareness, pleasure, and gratification in learning how to manipulate, respond to and communicate with computers"(Alper, 2011, p. 11). Carlina Rinaldi, a Reggio scholar, sees technology as a “fundamental support [to learning] if we let the computer and other forms of technology become tools, media capable not simply of adding but of multiplying, able that is to create something new and unpredictable” (2006, p. 139). Rinaldi sees the use of digital technology as a way to increase creativity in children if it is used to enhance and inform learning rather than as a stand alone tool. In Reggio classrooms, digital tools are not isolated in a computer lab, rather they are available for use with non-digital materials and used in a project context (Alper, 2011). It is through this thoughtful revisiting of pedagogy that embraces new tools and ideas, while always placing children and creativity first, that the Reggio Emilia Approach remains relevant to current educational discussions.
Intersection of Reggio Emilia approach and maker movement
Both approaches are deeply rooted in a constructivist framework that emphasizes the learner as capable, competent, and able to guide and contribute to a personalized learning journey. Children are encouraged to develop individual understandings of the world through active exploration and social interaction. Both approaches advocate for the construction of deep and meaningful learning opportunities through collaborative and social relationships between students and teachers. Teachers are viewed as guides and fellow researchers rather than experts and set the stage for students through the use of displayed provocations or materials. The classroom environment and materials provided to students, in both approaches, are viewed as integral to deeper learning opportunities and are designed to invite open-ended exploration that welcomes failure and invites iterations. Long-term project work that delves into ‘big ideas’ is key to developing deeper understanding, with the teacher in both approaches setting the stage by providing provocations in the form of materials to capture the interest and imagination of the learner. Both approaches could also augment each other in certain areas. The Reggio approach to documentation could help provide an emphasis on and a way for students in educational makerspaces to clearly make their learning visible. Conversely, the introduction of new technology and hands on engineering opportunities that a makerspace provides could be a valuable 21st century addition to a traditional Reggio-inspired approach.
In order to understand and draw parallels between the Reggio approach and the maker movement, it is necessary to describe the fundamental principles that underline the Reggio philosophy. The following six principles are listed by most scholars in Reggio Emilia as the philosophy’s fundamental guidelines (Cadwell, 2003; Gandini, 1993).
- The child as protagonist, collaborator and communicator
- The environment as third teacher
- Cooperation as the foundation of the Educational System in Reggio Emilia
- The teacher as partner, nurturer, guide and researcher
- The documentation as communication
- The parent as partner
The image of the child
At the heart of the Reggio approach is the belief that children are “strong, rich and capable” (Cadwell, 1997, p.5). Reggio Emilia educators celebrate the image of a child as a complex, creative being with an endless desire to know and understand. They affirm and support children’s ability to have, and express, their own hypotheses and theories and encourage children to guide their own learning journeys (James, 2015). Children are viewed not as having needs but rather as protagonists with the rights to an education that allows them to collaborate and communicate with others in order to construct their own knowledge (Cutcher, 2013; Kocher, Edwards, Gandini, & Forman, 1998). This socio-constructivist model is rooted in Dewey’s constructivist philosophy that children are architects of their own learning and is key to understanding the underpinnings of the Reggio Emilia philosophy (Dodd-Nufrio, 2011). Malaguzzi (1994) believed that developing a child’s creative potential is a basic human right and was disdainful of educators who did not see the inherent rights, capabilities, and potential of young children.
Those you have the image of the child as fragile, incomplete,
weak, made of glass gain something from this belief only for
themselves. We don’t need that as an image of children. Instead
of always giving children protection, we need to give them the
recognition of their rights and of their strengths. (Malaguzzi, p. 56)
The environment as the third teacher
Providing a space that encourages and fosters exploration, autonomy, curiosity, and problem solving coupled with the use of natural lighting and variety of materials helps to foster participation and communication between learners.
When one begins to view a child as competent and creative, a value is also placed on the learning environment that supports the development of creativity and free thought. The aesthetic beauty of the classroom environments is one of the first things to strike visiting educators to Reggio Emilia. The classrooms are full of indoor plants, natural light, a purposeful use of space, and an abundance of creative materials. The educators in the preschools of Reggio Emilia place a high value on the aesthetic and physical environment of the school, often referring to it as the “third teacher” (Gandini, 1998, p. 177). The environment is viewed as a living, changing element that supports changing relationships between people and affects how students feel, think and behave (Kocher, 2006). Fraser (2006) describes how the design of learning spaces in Reggio Emilia reflect a philosophy of openness and transparency that invites participants to mingle and share ideas amongst classes. “The support of a complex variety of relationships is the enduring focus of decisions in the schools” with every part of the building serving a purpose (Fraser, 2006, p. 14). A vital part of each school is an ‘atelier’ or art studio that provides a wide range of media and materials for fostering creativity. The rich, stimulating studios are full of materials that allow students to express their thoughts and feelings through symbolic interpretations, innovative transformation and project work. Materials might include plant and organic items collected from nature, reclaimed and recycled objects from REMIDA, a recycled materials center in Reggio Emilia, or objects donated by students and families. The REMIDA project developed as a partnership with Reggio Schools in 1996 and functions as a storage, display, and supply of recycled and discarded materials to local schools and groups. Local companies donate industrial and craft ‘waste’ materials such as fabrics, plastic ends, and paper (Eckhoff & Spearman, 2009). REMIDA differs from most recycling centers in its approach to aesthetically displaying materials based on colour, shape and texture. Its collections of materials appear as artworks in their own right and is an integral support to the object-centered inquiry practice of Reggio Schools (Eckhoff & Spearman, 2009). Providing a space that encourages and fosters exploration, autonomy, curiosity, and problem solving coupled with the use of natural lighting and variety of materials helps to foster participation and communication between learners.
Collaboration and student teacher relationships
That emphasis on developing collaborative learning relationships is also evident in the way that Reggio Emilia-inspired educators fill the roles of partner, nurturer, guide, and fellow researcher (Edwards, 1998). Teachers view themselves as co-constructors of knowledge rather than all-knowing leaders imparting wisdom to the masses. Teachers work to provoke “occasions of genuine intellectual growth” (Edwards, 1998) by listening to students, extending their discussions and providing materials to create shared meaning. Stager and Martinez (2013) list the primary role of a teacher in Reggio Emilia as that of a researcher whose goal is to understand the thinking of each child. As opposed to traditional individually oriented educational approaches, Reggio Emilia values social relationships and collaboration as essential aspects of all learning. It is through listening, negotiation, discussion and exploration of divergent viewpoints that knowledge is gained. Participation by children, teachers and parents in a community context allows all participants to connect and learn by interacting with one another and their environment. Parents are invited contribute to project work by contributing to the building of resources and becoming a part of the learning conversation. Unique to the Reggio Emilia approach is the use of pedagogistas or pedagogical coordinators who support relationships between teachers, parents community members and students by encouraging discourse and constant reflection (Fraser, 2006). Their role is also to research innovative teaching practices and constantly re-examine and evaluate the value of the students’ project work. Students are provided with provocations (materials set up as invitations to explore), open ended questions, and are observed for interests and problems that could lead into long term research projects. For example, Krevesky et al. (2013) documents a kindergarten project that emerged from student conflict in a play area. Teachers observed students arguing over the use of a yellow door in a building block area. Students were asked to devise a solution to the problem and collectively, they decided to build more doors. In the process of researching doors, they collected data on door materials, size, appearance, and function. In small groups, students organized and shared data and used that information to design their own doors. With assistance, the designs were turned into real wooden doors for future use in the block area. In contrast, a traditional classroom model might have had the teacher solve the conflict by focusing on modifying the student behaviour and thereby missing the learning opportunity.
Documentation as communication
An important tool used to re-evaluate and analyze student work is done through the process of pedagogical documentation. Reggio-inspired documentation is credited with inspiring modern physical and digital portfolio assessments. Documentation takes the focus away from solely summative and standardized measures of student achievement and moves it toward a more qualitative and formative understanding of student understanding (Turner & Wilson, 2010). Reggio-inspired teachers routinely record the thinking and learning processes of children by transcribing, photographing and videoing group discussions and project work. Teachers strive to represent the thought processes, beliefs, and assumptions that students bring to their work. Representations of student thinking using quotes from children and pictures representing the evolution of their understanding are displayed as posters or books within the classroom or school setting. There are multiple purposes for documentation within a Reggio inspired classroom including communicating learning to parents/teachers/community, demonstrating to children that their work is valued, assessing teaching and learning, creating a historical archive, and fostering dialogue with other educators (Gandini, 1993). When shared amongst educators, documentation becomes a tool for teacher research, reflection, collaboration and decision making. Turner and Wilson (2010) in their round table discussion with Reggio Emilia thought leaders found that documentation is not just a teaching tool, but a pedagogical philosophy of knowing and valuing children. Documentation was also seen by those Reggio scholars as a way to challenge one’s ideas and a way to enable a new, adaptive form of teaching and learning that values constructing community and educating citizens (Turner & Wilson, 2010).
Digital Reggio
At first glance, the 50-year-old teaching and learning communities of Reggio Emilia seem to have little in common with the digital, online communities that students now encounter. However, advocates of the Reggio Emilia Approach pride themselves on constantly reinventing, analyzing, and incorporating new ideas into their teaching as opposed to traditional teaching models that often use a ‘one size fits all’ approach. This constant reflection also applies to continually growing in the knowledge and the application of technology. "In terms of Reggio and technological play specifically, Malaguzzi viewed computer literacy as just another of the hundred languages of children. He saw potential for children's self awareness, pleasure, and gratification in learning how to manipulate, respond to and communicate with computers"(Alper, 2011, p. 11). Carlina Rinaldi, a Reggio scholar, sees technology as a “fundamental support [to learning] if we let the computer and other forms of technology become tools, media capable not simply of adding but of multiplying, able that is to create something new and unpredictable” (2006, p. 139). Rinaldi sees the use of digital technology as a way to increase creativity in children if it is used to enhance and inform learning rather than as a stand alone tool. In Reggio classrooms, digital tools are not isolated in a computer lab, rather they are available for use with non-digital materials and used in a project context (Alper, 2011). It is through this thoughtful revisiting of pedagogy that embraces new tools and ideas, while always placing children and creativity first, that the Reggio Emilia Approach remains relevant to current educational discussions.
Intersection of Reggio Emilia approach and maker movement
Both approaches are deeply rooted in a constructivist framework that emphasizes the learner as capable, competent, and able to guide and contribute to a personalized learning journey. Children are encouraged to develop individual understandings of the world through active exploration and social interaction. Both approaches advocate for the construction of deep and meaningful learning opportunities through collaborative and social relationships between students and teachers. Teachers are viewed as guides and fellow researchers rather than experts and set the stage for students through the use of displayed provocations or materials. The classroom environment and materials provided to students, in both approaches, are viewed as integral to deeper learning opportunities and are designed to invite open-ended exploration that welcomes failure and invites iterations. Long-term project work that delves into ‘big ideas’ is key to developing deeper understanding, with the teacher in both approaches setting the stage by providing provocations in the form of materials to capture the interest and imagination of the learner. Both approaches could also augment each other in certain areas. The Reggio approach to documentation could help provide an emphasis on and a way for students in educational makerspaces to clearly make their learning visible. Conversely, the introduction of new technology and hands on engineering opportunities that a makerspace provides could be a valuable 21st century addition to a traditional Reggio-inspired approach.