02/11/2018
ARE YOU REALLY REGGIO-INSPIRED?
There are many theories, models, methods, that inspire good education: Montessori, P4C, Waldorf, Sudbury Schools.. but Reggio is my “X marks the spot” as the children at Small World say. It’s the “middle part”, for “all to connect to”, the place where all good theory and practice meets, the centrepoint “that holds all the magic” (see painting by KATELYN, age 4)
There are many schools in South Africa that are in some way inspired by the Reggio Approach. Perhaps they have put in a light box, or chucked out all their plastic and replaced it with natural materials, or maybe they ‘do Reggio on a Friday’.
But this is not enough.
Being REGGIO-inspired means much more than this. It starts and ends with a strong image of the child, and a utopian dream to see change in the society in which they live.
For this reason, every teacher who says they are REGGIO-inspired, must also be an advocate for the child, and a social entrepreneur in their schools.
It is not simply about letting the children play with clay or taking photos of their work.
If you say you are Reggio-inspired, you stand for the child. You stand WITH the child, who is already standing. You advocate every single day, with every parent you chat to, every teacher you encounter, for a new way of seeing the child already whole, complete, competent, resourceful, perfect as they are.
You work every day, from within the system you’re in, to inspire transformation, and to create change in the schools, which are microcosms of a society we wish to live in.
"Reggio speaks to those of us who long for something else, another belonging. It gives comfort and hope by being different, by showing the possibility of different values, different relationships, different ways of living. Reggio offers a sense of belonging to people longing for others' values, relationships and ways of living.
Reggio Emilia is a local place that is engaged in both utopian thought and action through a process that might be called a local cultural project of childhood. But this local cultural project has dispersed geographically and become a global network-it has constructed a new cultural geography. This network is opening towards the possibility of exploring new modes of human possibility. "
We need more Reggios, not in the sense of Reggio clones, but of other communities which are prepared to embark on local cultural projects of childhood, to combine utopian thought and action, to dream about the future, to hope for a better world."
~Carlina Rinaldi, In Dialogue with Reggio Emilia.
