The Reggio Emilia Approach to Early Years - Education Scotland

ADAPTATION OF A PEDAGOGICAL APPROACH
on! In the cloakroom area of many Reggio schools can be generally found a basic outline of
the week’s projected activities, a written account of the day’s completed activities, which
often includes quotations of children’s remarks, and examples of the artwork produced by
the children along with photographs. There may also be a detailed written account of the
ongoing project.
• Personal contact remains fundamental to the creation of true partnership. Staff can take
time to greet each child and their parent as they arrive in school each morning. This is
easiest in the early years setting particularly as the arrival time may be staggered. It may
prove more problematic in the primary setting where even the youngest children may
arrive alone by public transport.
• Teachers often remark that parents are reluctant to become involved in Scottish schools.
While there are undoubtedly cultural reasons for this, schools are now doing much to
encourage more active involvement.
• Where people have a great deal of pride in something they become increasingly willing
to be involved. In a sense the easiest way to encourage parents’ interest in school life is
to make it more interesting. Children who talk enthusiastically about the day’s activities
encourage parents to ask interesting questions. A parent faced with photographs of their
child deeply involved in the creation of an interesting piece of artwork will want to discuss it
with their child, look at the work and talk with the teacher.
• By recognising that parents are able to contribute to the school services as well as receiving
the services they desire, teachers give value to the role of the parent in their children’s
learning and often will find that parents are very willing to be involved. The involvement
of non-Italian parents in the collation of a book of international nursery rhymes in one of
the Reggio schools is one such example of the small ways in which parents can share their
differing experiences with the school.
Questions to reflect upon
• How is day-to-day contact made with families?
• How are families encouraged to contribute to the life of the school?
• In organised activities are parents encouraged to take a lead or are they simply expected
to attend?
• What means can we use to encourage contact and create relationships with parents who
are unable to make frequent visits to the school?
• Is partnership the model we should be aiming for in establishing relationships with parents?
Curriculum
Non-Italian educators faced with the Reggio Approach are often wary of progettazione, as it
seems to be simply a return to the child-led philosophies popular in the past and because they
feel increasingly constrained by the need to implement an ever fuller curriculum. However, the
following points should be noted.
REGGIO EMILIA