Documenting a child’s learning: A key element of the Reggio Emilia approach
Imagine
if someone could show you videotaped recordings of your early years
at a preschool, playing and interacting with others while sharing the
delightfully intriguing thoughts of a young mind? Wouldn’t it
provide a significant insight into the development of your
personality and your unique traits and interests during that
important phase of your life?
At
the Reggio Emilia primary schools in Italy as well as Reggio
Emilia-inspired primary education centers worldwide, keeping a record
of a child’s conversations, activities and remarks is the norm.
This documentation is not only preserved for later reference but used
as a current, active guide to direct the emergent curriculum of these
schools.
The
Reggio Emilia approach originated in the town of the same name in
Northern Italy after World War II. The approach is marked by several
distinctive principles of which the prime principle is valuing and
honing a child’s unique abilities, interests, ideas, opinions and
curiosities.
Documentation
is a key part of valuing the child’s experience in the
child-centric form of education that is encouraged by the Reggio
Emilia approach. Reggio Emilia schools’ emergent curriculum is not
guided by a predetermined end point or aim. It is a flexible
curriculum that may involve short and long-term projects based on a
child’s developing interests and curiosities.
Documentation
of the children’s learning journey may be done by educators
through:
- Transcriptions of children’s conversations and remarks pertaining to projects and otherwise
- Tape recordings of group discussions and children’s play
- Photographs of children performing activities
- Note-taking of children’s questions, thoughts and ideas
- Preserving the items made by children that represent their thoughts and learning process
The
teacher compiles these transcripts, photographs and content, and then
may present them to the children and their parents. Teachers can also
reflect on the documented pieces for an insight into not only a
child’s learning process but also their own teaching strategies.
This helps them evaluate the effectiveness of their teaching style
and also construct new knowledge in light of these observations.
Documentation
also serves several other purposes:
- It lets the children know that their work is valued and appreciated.
- It makes learning public, enabling parents and co-educators to share in and contribute to the process.
- It helps decide the future course the curriculum takes.
- It helps teachers share multiple perspectives on the evaluation of their students’ learning journey and the effectiveness of their own teaching methods.
The
Reggio Emilia approach that originated in Italy has received
widespread acclaim as a unique and effective early childhood
educational approach. Williamsburg Northside schools in NYC are
widely known for providing preschool and primary education is adapted
to the Reggio Emilia approach. To know more about Williamsburg
Northside schools, you may visit: www.willnorth.org
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