Final Version May 5 07

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In this current semester in the winter of 2007, I have stopped expecting my
students to implement a three-stage project in their field placement sites. Instead, I have
focused on a projected curriculum, with a focus on documentation and Reggio-inspired
environments. I am inspired by the Hundred Languages of Children Exhibit. The
experience of initiating my college to be a partner in bringing this exhibit to Toronto, I
have had the opportunity to visit it many times. As one of the organizers for the opening
conference, I was instrumental in bringing to the Toronto audience Amelia Gambetti and
Lella Gandini, two Reggio educators from Italy. Both had firsthand experience with the
projects displayed in the museum quality panels of the exhibit, now made famous by its
years of touring the world. The exhibit bears witness to the originality and the
extraordinary nature of the years of research that have led the Reggio Emilia approach to
become a primary point of reference, worldwide, for those who work in early childhood
education.
Reggio Emilia has become my primary point of reference and I have become a
Reggio-inspired educator. I have accepted the challenge of unfolding curriculum in the
classroom and seeking collaborative, reciprocal relationships with my students and my
colleagues. Visiting Italy and the pre-primary schools of Reggio Emilia with three other
educators was both a shared experience as well as a catalyst for collaboration. Sitting
amongst the beautiful, mature trees in the park adjacent to our hotel, down the path from
the famed Diana School, the Acorn Collaborative was born and our first conference
planned.
Since our return in the spring of 2005, we have developed, organized, and
delivered three professional development conferences based on the principles of Reggio