Conversations ~ Three evenings with Speakers
Reggio Emilia Study – reflections on I-T provision
What a wonderful start to the series of three Conversations. Thank you to Anne Meade and Rachel Denee from Daisies Childcare for coming and sharing your thoughts, impressions and reflections following your recent Tour to Reggio Emilia.
Aotearoa New Zealand and Reggio Emilia; the space between
The first of three great evenings at Kohia Centre in Auckland was held on Monday 19th July. The next evening is Monday 23rd August with Brenda Soutar and Miria Wipaki from Mana Tamariki. The third and final evening is with Sally Groenhart: The Crib Matakana. If you have missed out on attending please join the online conversation. The first comment has now been posted.
Conversations are now fully booked, no places are now available. There are 55 people registered to attend this series of three presentations and conversations
The creating of ‘a third place’ is one of the key points that have strike me the most in the evening. We are all unique individuals with diverse set of values. This set of values identifies ‘who we are’, and determines how we teach. In this complicated teaching and learning context, the creating of a third place starts to make sense to me. This ‘third place’ is where we all come together, each bringing our unique piece of space, to share, to communicate, to listen, to learn, and to connect what we have within. That becomes a process of building a community where trust, respect, relationships, and connections are developed. The centre slowly starts developing its own culture. It takes time. We can’t teach or force it, we have to work together to build it.
Thanks Anne for your insightful comments and Rachel for sharing about your centre.
Two things that I was provoked about again after Monday night.
Decluttering!: When I got back from Reggio I did an enormous throw out but after Monday night… it has started again!!! More decluttering and massive reorganisation of the environment in an effort to find that ‘Third place’ that has meaning for us and our community.
Our philosophy: Anne reminded us that that one of the important tenets of the Reggio approach is that they walk the talk in every aspect of their philosophy. With this in mind we are revisiting the principles of Te Whaariki (with our Reggio experience in mind) starting with Empowerment!
Anne began with a moving opening that positioned her reflections for the evening by talking about a visit she had made with others to a museum that honored the liberators of the war in a nearby town to Reggio Emilia. It set a cultural context reflecting New Zealands comradeship that was forged at the end of the second world war by the NZ 8th Army, with the lives being lived in Reggio today. There were several of us whose fathers and grandfathers were part of the liberating army so this brings a very special connection.
So much of the principles that underpin Reggio pedagogy have come from the ashes of war. Their desires for ensuring that children’s minds are engaged in learning, that they are learning to think for themselves and to develop strong relationships with others – to name but a few!
One provocation that I have been talking with teachers about, has been the notion of ‘de cluttering’ spaces. I remember Carlina Rinaldi querying what was displayed around a centre she visited. She asked; ‘in what ways do the things you are displaying around, relate to children and their lives?’. It’s an interesting question and invites us to question what we choose to surround children with. Is there a connection to them, their families or the communities they live in?
So looking forward to reading more reflections….
Cheers
Chris Bayes
I find that I am still unpacking the multiple possibilities that the conversation provoked.
I liked the connection between ‘teach intention’ and how it informed the dialogue about de-cluttering the environment.
To me, Anne spoke not just of clearing a ‘large clean space’, but the creation of a third space…
A space that is open for ideas and for building relationships. A space for exploring a concept without concern for the periphery that can often encroach on and take away from a moment of learning.
Thanks so much to Anne and Rachel for their interesting and thought-provoking dialogue.
Anne’s been in touch regarding the museum she visited. Anne says “It was called the Cervi museum and it is at the Cervi family farm in a wee farming hamlet – not a town. The farm was the hub of activity for partisans (resistance movement) during the war for much of northern Italy. The partisans in northern Italy were resisting both the Nazis and Mussolin’s fascists”.
I have just finished reading a lovely book called Tuscany Rose which was set from 1935 – 1945 in Florence. A great read!
Our group discussed provocation 3 in regard to ‘encounters’. We talked about richness of ‘space’ and the concept Anne discussed regarding ‘less is more’. This led us to contemplate de-cluttering or paring back our environments. We then discussed time and the bearing that our space has on the time we spend with children. This caused us to rethink some of the current activities we use and to reflect on their value to our environment, and our teaching practice. We wondered if paring back the environment would allow children more space to build relationships (promoting meaningful encounters). It might also increase the general calmness within a centre by reducing the tendency for the children to rush from one activity to another.
Anne, Rachel and the Reanz group, thank you for providing a format for delicious conversation and the opportunity to explore our thinking and ponder our wonderings. As usual more questions than answers but that means we continue to seek, and seeking and being curious are, of course, what we admire so much in the children that surround us. It keeps us alive and vibrant in our personal and professional lives.
A fireside, a glass of mulled wine and a loaf of warm bread and parmessan cheese…would just make it perfect!!!!!!!!!
The summary of the discussion our group engaged in (about Provocation 3)was:
“Reaching in” – holding on to core values while “reaching out” embracing the ideas of others to create a cultural project that is our centre. Each centre being in constant flow of change and renewal.
Fabulous evening – thank you SO much Anne and Rachael for provoking thought.
The conversation that our group had about the space in between was that perhaps there are many spaces: diversity; discrimination; social justice; our centre environment and the message it portrays are just some that we talked about.
A question that came out of this for me was ‘How do we encounter these spaces?’