I was curious after attending the Dialogue with materials conference in Auckland a few weeks earlier, which was hosted by Reggio Provocations New Zealand
You see I had listened to international speakers offering gems of knowledge about refining our lens when it came to documenting for children’s learning.
When you listen to speakers that are passionate about the subject they speak, it really does ignite your flame, the connection is linked quickly, because these speakers don’t just speak from a book, they speak the voice of experience, I think that is what makes you listen so intently, they speak from experience and researched facts , this is what bridges the connection in my eyes, speakers that speak from the heart, the heart of knowing and connecting on a deeper level with children’s creative thinking abilities.
Well if I thought I was interested in New Zealand, then my concentration was to be magnified in Italy at Reggio Emilia.
I can explain it to you similarly as my experiences with fishing, because I love the water, especially the colours that blend, blues and greens turn to azure and the glimmer, the sea always draws me in for a closer look, and the fastness of boats can be quietly exhilarating, but to catch a fish, well I didn’t really expect to like that better than the whole experience, but it’s addictive, and I am hooked.
Well that was my Reggio trip, I am in the most beautiful little region of Italy, dubbed the food nation of Italy, because everywhere you go to eat it is seriously scrumptious, and your expectations get higher and higher every time you eat somewhere, the wine I might mention seems to evaporate in your glass well that how I looked at it, because it was also seriously smooth and easy on the palate.
History is telling stories with the sights, amazing churches, arched walls, trees pop out in alleyways to bring a mainly stone city to life, and street fairs and markets bring everyone out of hiding for a catch up in the Piazzas, and people seem to meet on the streets randomly stopping on their bicycles as if they have not caught up for some time, it is an exciting lively place, that for me is my exhilaration, to be immersed in a culture, listening to Italian being spoken around me, I really did not expect the wow factor to get any better than that.
Wrong,
The 100 languages of children starts off with introductions from around the world, participants from Angola, Australia, Azerbaijan,brazil,Canada,China,Colombia,Finland,France,Germany,Greece,Hong Kong,India,Iran,Ireland,Italy,Japan,Jordan,Lebanon,Malaysia,New Zealand,Portugal,Saudi Arabia,Singapoer,Spain,Switzerland,The Netherlands,UK,United Arab Emirates and USA
So many different people, but with a common thread among us all, not all these people are from teaching institutions, there were also artists which for me, made me even more interested in this Reggio approach, that artist would come here for their own perspective as well as a perspective towards children, I think from that moment I am hooked into listening too.
Maddelena Tedeschi kicks the conversation into gear by telling us all that Reggio is in a state of emergency, if you should ask us how we are doing she says, then I should reply Reggio is in a critical situation
I can’t say I understand that but I keep listening and taking studious notes, because she is talking about the need to be thinking about and connecting with the past yet always thinking of the future, so I store that in my memory, and as the days go by I have the opportunity to listen to many more speakers, but that first comment by Maddelena I realise sets the scene for me, because what Reggio does is they give you all this information that strategically fits and is set up to make you think more in detail about the last thing you heard and connect it together in your leisure.
My mind is to become like a circuit of Christmas lights, before Reggio perhaps I have several blown bulbs, but what Reggio does is they take them out one by one, then they give you all the pieces to fit them back together and get them working, but don’t expect Reggio to fit them in for you, oh no, that is your job, you have to make sense of everything, which is very clever because it leaves you in this constant state of piecing together knowledge and experiences and those blinking lights are going on and off for the whole experience, in fact even now a month after, i am still enjoying my thoughts processes.
Now you may think that i am not being particularly specific on content and exactly what i heard and saw, but that is intentional, because one of the first things Maddelena says to you at the Introduction at the Loris Malaguzzi international centre is that this is Reggio’s approach, it is only examples of our experiences for the last 50 years, it is our approach, and you must find your own experiences.
But i can share that to get there they talked about over coming obstacles, having experiences, working hard, encountering problems, thinking, having people that just do it and collaborating.
So in fairness to Reggio i don’t want to share all my great insights, because Reggio is the whole experience i think to understand its relevance in your own setting you have to go there and put the pieces together, i can however tell you what Reggio has done for me and my setting at Play and Learn.
Reggio has made me resourceful again, i see the possibilities and the importance of recycling and reusing materials and looking at what i might have previously thrown away with a new lens.
I notice the glamourous boxes that chewing gum comes in, and just last week i picked up a beautiful transparent blue container someone had disgarded in the shower at my gym for the light box.
I see the potential of colours and light, i pose questions to make children think of a possibility not an answer.
And if i want to make something i look around to see what i have instead of writing a list of what i need to buy.
Recycling and teaching children to be resourceful is key, Kiwis are known for there ingenuity so lets steo that up a notch in our children.
I don’t assume children have a relationship with art materials anymore, instead i let them experiment and nurture them so they can have one, i appreciate a beginners experience and i let it just be that with out expecting anything more.
I realise that children that waste resourses need help to see the beauty of light and sparkle and colours, and i start that process outside with sunshine and shadows, help these children to see where the sun falls, where rays bounce of in different directions and that they can create a relationship with beauty, because we are not all born with those lens, we need to teach that to our children.
And nurture the ones that do notice, nurture and document, because they have powerful thinking abilities and they have thoughts that will teach us a thing or two.
I would have to say that my biggest shift is in listening to childrens theories, or working theories as we know them, hypothesis as Reggio knows them.
These are children’s spoken findings, you see play is research and spoken findings are there findings.
These are at a child’s level and they are immature and glorious, it is the immaturity that helps them understand.
Like when Sarah spoke of her teacher being away yesterday,
Sarah:Kerri, where is Jan Taylor today
Kerri:I am not sure Sarah, she is away today
Sarah:Where were you when you were in the sky?
Kerri:I was in Italy Sarah, that is another country
Sarah:Did you sleep in the sky?
Kerri:Well i slept in the plane that was in the sky
Sarah:Planes go slow aye
Sarah:Birds go fast,Did the birds go faster than the plane,
Sarah:Do they Kerri ?
I thought this was a great example of some findings with more research, you see Sarah has seen photos of Reggio, she has heard me talking about this place that has made me so resourceful to all her teachers, I don’t want to correct her in anyway, i have influenced her thinking by documentation and displays and now it is her turn to influence me.
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