To have the opportunity to visit Reggio Emilia in Italia, listening to lectures, visiting their toddler centers and preschools and participating in various workshops organized by Reggio Children, was a dream come true for us.
As a result of our visit we wish to reflect on and develop further:
Our ideas and attitudes towards children
We should ask ourselves:
- Who are these children today?
- How are these children building their own knowledge?
- Where are they heading?
The answers to these questions should be a guiding light where we try to meet the children on their premises.
Project work
Communication and sharing information are important for the continuing project development. Not only between teachers. It is important to discuss and reflect on group work with the children in f.ex. large group gatherings. The different groups could present what they have been doing and ask for further ideas from their friends.
We need to create time and space for the teachers to prepare the learning environment and to reflect on what took place during small group time. Maybe printing pictures to be used by the children to present their work in large group gatherings.
As a teacher it is important to recognize and decide what you would like to explore further. When teachers are working in small groups it is important to recognize “the thread” throughout the project- though it might not be linear. Working with many different angles might become complicated.
Dalur – our common areas including the atelier, science area, story area and block area.
Dalur should offer a challenging environment based on the project work in the groups. The teachers of Dalur should also plan field trips to different museums and institutions such as the art hall or music school.
Materials.
We would like to:
- Use more recycled materials in the different departments.
- Add colorful transparent and opaque materials in the block area.
- Sort materials depending on colors.
Digital Media
In the Malaguzzi centre there are workshops exploring different materials such as clay, paper, lights and digital media. We visited the digital work shop trying out different materials with f.ex. projectors, webcams and microscopes.
There were and abundance of recycled and colorful materials.
Some photos showing a magic world created by recycled materials and digital media.
- What changes depending whether a recording is taking place on the floor, a table, from the ceiling, or under a table of glass?
- How can we work with microscopes?
- What happens if you work with more than one projector at the same time?
- What happens if we add different light sources?
Creative children in a digital world 