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reflective practice involving journaling and mentoring the teacher was able to see that
“dictating, step by step, what children will do and how they will do it was unnecessary
and undesirable” (p. 38). Her story of emergent curriculum illustrates her own
development and personal growth.
Williams and Kantor (2004) tell the story of one teacher’s experience upon her
return from visiting the schools of Reggio Emilia. A simple water experiment with
children ages three to five was the entry point for a long-term water project. Children
explored pouring, making bubbles, evaporation, waves, and boats. Children were
encouraged to build their own theories about water. With project documentation and
children’s representations, the teacher reflects on her “joy in sharing the children’s new
experiences” and the sadness of not “having given other children the rights of their own
potential” (p. 163). The water project had felt comfortable for the teacher was able to
give the children a language to communicate what they had found out about water.
Inspired by the support for learning that teachers in Reggio Emilia offer children,
early childhood educators can reach “farther down the path” of negotiated curriculum
(Oken-Wright & Gravett, 2002, p. 197). Negotiated curriculum gives voice to children’s
intent. “The more adept children are at declaring intent, the more they can help us
understand what they are thinking, the more we understand, the better we can support the
children’s work and learning (Oken-Wright & Gravett, 2002, p. 202). Teachers can ask
questions in order to help children become more conscious of intent. Teachers can also
invite children to reflect on their thinking process. Eventually, children declare
increasingly specific intent and learning is truly negotiated. It is, according to Oken-
Wright and Gravett, similar to a walking labyrinth.