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| Photo Credit: Andrea Fox Jensen |
Spring
always needs a little prodding here in the Upper Midwest, and especially this reluctant spring. While the new green shoots and
forward observers are slow in making their presence known, some Reggio-inspired
opportunities are, fortunately, appearing and delivering promise.
The Reggio-inspired
opportunities emerging this spring have been brought along by the November
museums group study tour in Reggio Emilia (IT). Our group of 50
participants from 11 museums including partners from higher ed, libraries,
community organizations, early childhood, and preschools enjoyed presentations
by early childhood specialists, educators, and studio teachers. We visited infant-toddler
centers and preschools, explored dynamic and beautiful exhibit spaces, discussed
museum documentation projects, and investigated the Reggio-museum connection.
In
following our curiosity and questions about adapting Reggio practices to museum
settings, we encountered new possibilities, extended our imaginations about
children’s potential, and sometimes took unexpected turns in our thinking. It is fair to say many
of us returned to our museums, schools, and community centers wrapped in a
powerful, invigorating confusion of possibilities. Eager to harness the sparks
and insights of this intense and inspiring experience, many of us have since been
building on existing projects, following new connections, and sharing work one
another. Several opportunities are coming up and are worth exploring.
• Opal School
of the Portland Children’s Museum, a Reggio-inspired tuition-based
preschool and public charter elementary school, has a series of current
offerings that extend their imagination regarding the capacity of children. A new
e-book, Creating Possible Worlds: The Teacher’s Role in Nurturing a Community Where Imagination Thrives, documents a year of study in the preschool classroom that explored how the world of imagination and storytelling supports
the world of science and reason. Five
multimedia modules are also available at Opal School Online. Upcoming events in Portland
include: Reading the World, May 1-2, that studies
the role of quality in education and features the opportunity to observe class
in session. The annual Summer Symposium is June 19-21 where Opal
School teacher-researchers are joined by colleagues for reflection on a year of
teaching and learning, exploring the role of materials in education, and
connecting to the natural world.
• Two Reggio-inspired pre-conferences have been added to InterActivity 2014, the Association of Children’s
Museum’s annual conference in Phoenix (AZ) this year. The Reggio
approach and children’s museums are strongly aligned around some foundational areas: an important
role for the environment and materials in learning, parent engagement, and
strong community connections. Building on the museums study tour, responding to interest, and providing
new starting points for Reggio-inspired practice in museums, the pre-conferences are an opportunity to explore Reggio ideas, insights and practices from a
children’s museum perspective. Scheduled for May 13, these pre-conferences are for anyone interested in Reggio-inspired
practice and working in or with museums. The morning pre-conference is Exploring Foundational Ideas in a Museum Context; the afternoon
pre-conference is Making the
Reggio-Children’s Museum Connection.
• Wheelock College in Boston is hosting an Inquiry Institute on June 19 that will explore
ways to document informal learning in museum settings as well as open a conversation that
explores ways of using documentation in public and visible ways.
Bobbi Rosenquest and
Stephanie Cox Suarez are planning this institute with other members of the DIG
group (Democracy Inquiry Group) made up of teacher educators and faculty from
several Boston area colleges. Jeri Robinson and staff from the Boston Children’s Museum; Julie Berenson, director of learning and engagement from the
De Cordova Museum and Sculpture Park and the Lincoln Nursery School (Lincoln, MA); and
two New Hampshire teachers working with artists will share new work-in
progress. DIG recently published a special issue on documentation in The New Educator with articles targeting educators, families, mayors, stakeholders.
Related Museum Notes Posts
Thanks for this article. Inspires me to learn more about the Reggio Emilia approach.
ReplyDeleteKristin, I encourage you to follow your interest. Check out some of the links above and get inspired with a visit to:http://www.reggiochildren.it/?lang=en. Interest in Reggio ideas from museums and museum colleagues is growing and so, I imagine, will opportunities for exploring more, more deeply, and with others.
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