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This program began in 1975 and historically functioned in a traditional, teacherled
philosophical environment. There had been no serious thought given to changing the
approach. Twenty years later with the appointment of a new director, the centre began its
slow progression towards change. Working collaboratively with administration, parents
and staff the program shifted towards one inspired by Reggio Emilia (Dodge et al., 2001).
In chronicling this time of change, the role of parents is emphasized. Expectations
of parents place a burden on teachers to provide a program that will shape a child capable
of reciting facts and constructing refrigerator art, but often unable to negotiate the dayto-day
challenges of solving problems consistent with independent, critical, and creative
thinking. After a series of meetings focused on educating parents to the many benefits of
an emergent curriculum, the centre received parental support. At the same time, there was
recognition that guiding parents through change takes time (Dodge et al., 2001).
The focus of this case is the parents, children, and the administration; there is little
discussion on how the transformation impacted the teachers’ self-image and practice. The
connection between a teacher’s real experience and the real context of his or her
professional life is fundamental to understanding how curriculum innovation shapes
image. What happens to early childhood educators who are implementing innovative
curriculum approaches?
Wien (2004) chronicles the transformation that took place at three different child
care centres. Teachers went from continuous policing and correction of young children to
a pedagogy in which there is co-construction. The teachers in the study were offered
workshops in which they explored their images of children and were encouraged to
reflect on the view of the learner as put forward by the Reggio Emilia approach.