Inspiration of Reggio in the Classroom

            Last year in our class we spoke about pedagogy and what that could mean for the child, in our first few weeks of the class this year we have been talking about pedagogical documentation and materials and how they are related to one another. Initially, I did not want to have early childhood education as my specialty or a kinder placement mainly because I didn’t know what the best way to have the students learn. With our discussions so far about pedagogy and using materials in various ways within the classroom, I am starting to look forward on working in an early childhood teaching setting.

            In a 2010 article, Vecchi talks about ateliers [studio] “as a presence that provides direction to educational thinking” (Vecchi, 2010). From what I have seen up until this point, it appears that many kindergarten and primary classrooms are designed with centers that help guide students with their learning and inquiry process. Books are in one section, small tools and manipulatives in another, tables are typically centralized with a carpet facing in once direction, typically, towards a teacher or the main board.

            As there is a strong emphasis of incorporating the environment into the classroom and learning experience, many of the Reggio-inspired classrooms often includes foliage, branches, muted tones and materials that can often be found in the environment for example, pebbles, seeds, wood and plants are often seen. Some boards have attempted for the kindergarten classroom and educators have take the Reggio approach in regards to classroom set-up but not with their approach to teaching.

            Rather than having materials out for children to interact with, many of the classrooms in our public and catholic school boards will have certain centers out at a time and the students will often move back and forth from carpet-time to center-time. Ideally the children should have the opportunity to explore a space in their terms, which is what these Reggio-inspired classrooms aim for.

             

References

McDonell, A. (2015). A new year, a new classroom. Retrieved from https://thecuriouskindergarten.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/dsc03264.jpg

Vecchi, V. (2010). Art and creativity in Reggio Emilia: Exploring the role and potentials of ateliers in early childhood education. New York, NY: Routledge. 

'Peda' what? and how?

Pedagogical documentation through the eyes of the students allows for parents to see what and how their child is learning. Photography from a teachers’ perspective and from the students’ perspective are highly different. As a teacher, I want to photograph how they are doing something students are photographing what they see.

Photography is a small hobby of mine. I usually enjoy taking photos of landscapes because you can capture the moment, whereas taking photos of people requires more planning. Photos of people typically come with specific criteria based on the background, the positioning of the subject, lighting (and many more). I never thought as photography as a way to have children document their own learning process.

Sylvia Kind started a small project with the students in class by giving them a camera. To give young students a camera with little to no instructions as to what to photographed and how it should be done allowed for the students to photograph from their unique point of view.

When their photos were displayed Sylvia has said that “[t]heir conversations tended towards engaging with the photos and following their prompts, acting in response to the images, posing as the figures in the photos…” (Kind, 2013). I could imagine that allowing for students to take their own photos would be a great way for them to document their learning but also a great way for them to take control of their learning as well.

After their photos have been shared and they have had the opportunity to comment on what the photos show, the re-enactment is a compliment. I have seen students re-enact a show or copy what their parents or friends to because it is what they know and what they enjoy. Re-enacting their peers’ photos is a fantastic example of how they are learning and obtaining new information.
As a parent, I would have follow up questions based on the photo's that my child would be taking. I don't think that I would get all the information I need based on  photo of their forehead, to me, that would not necessarily give me a better insight to their learning. 

Photos are a brief look into that specific moment which is usually accompanied by a story. Just showing a photo without any information given is a great way to start a conversation on what they see.

Reference

Kind, S. (2013). Lively entanglements: The doings, movements, and enactments of photography. Global Childhoods 3(4). 427-441

Materials in the Classroom

            In Encounter With Materials in Early Childhood Education, Pacini-Ketchabaw, Kind & Kocher describe that both paint and clay are highly dependable on the way it is manipulated. For instance, paint relies on the user to stir, mix, and even cover other objects. Clay relies on the user to form or shape it into something by flattening it, rolling it, or even sculpting it (Pacini-Ketchabaw, Kind & Kocher, 2017). If not taken care of, both of these materials can become unusable in their traditional way. In chapter three, ‘Paint: Assemblage’ talks about what assemblage is and what it would look like and feel like within the classroom. I believe that our students are capable however I feel that what both of these chapters are describing needs to be worked up to.

            What these chapters miss out on tackling is how would we get there. Before I have my students to dive right in I believe there needs to be some guidance with the material. I would see what they do with paint and provide them with some prompts like “what would happen if…” or “what do you see, or feel” and “how can we create…”. The Kindergarten Program states that “[c]hildren begin to assimilate adult prompts, descriptions, explanations, and strategies by incorporating them into their self-talk (The Kindergarten Program, 2016). This is important because when we provide those prompts, the self-talk they are establishing may turn into actions and help guide their further inquiry when it comes to them exploring the material further or other materials as well. I believe that inquiry based learning needs to have a starting point, an end point with prompts and guidance.

References:

Ministry of Education (2016). The Kindergarten Program. Ontario: Queen’s Printer

Ketchabaw, V., Kind, S., & Kocher, L. (2017). Encounters With Materials. Abingdon: Routledge

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