At the heart of a successful approach to education is the belief that children have a natural curiosity and desire to learn. They are not just empty slates, waiting to be filled with facts and figures. This approach enables them to become thriving citizens with responsibility, respect and a sense of community. Reggio Emilia Schools in Mclean VA are benefiting from over forty years of experience gained in schools in Italy practicing this approach.
Children in these schools are offered a flexible curriculum instead of a rigid one passed down unchanged from generation to generation. Lessons are based around the thoughts, ideas and observations of the child. The goal is to cultivate a passion for exploration and learning that will last a lifetime.
It is the student who directs the pace at which learning proceeds instead of the teacher. Those who need to go at a slower pace are allowed to do so and those who want to rush eagerly ahead are also accommodated. This takes unnatural pressure off students and means that they themselves can determine when they are ready to move on to something new.
The educators also function differently. They function as nurturers and guides rather than as an authoritarian figure. Italian teacher, Loris Malaguzzi, saw the need to change the way teachers and students interacted. He felt that a teacher needed to facilitate exploration, discovery and problem solving by listening closely to what students have to say and observing their interactions.
Movement, drawing, shadow play, sculpture, painting and music are all means used to promote communication, development of creativity, problem solving and ability to connect ideas. The thinking of the student is made visible through the use language skills and various materials. The skills and values developed in this way help the student to develop and grow in a lifelong process.
There is no such thing as passing or failing and this frees children to use each opportunity to grow without focusing on marks. Exams and tests force children to assimilate facts and regurgitate them, often without understanding them. This method allows them to absorb more meaningful knowledge that helps them to develop skills and values required for growth and future functioning in society.
Parents are regarded as an important part of the process of learning. They are intimately involved and teachers and parents exchange ideas. Documentation in the form of photographs and transcriptions of words and dialogue are kept for parents to see. This documentation also helps teachers to evaluate their work and understand their students better.
Children discover what they understand, know, question, imagine and feel and then communicate this. They do this by being given the freedom to learn what they want to learn at their own pace. Teachers, parents and children are all involved in the learning process but the child is at the center, developing into a responsible, respectful, insightful, creative adult well able to function fruitfully in society.
Children in these schools are offered a flexible curriculum instead of a rigid one passed down unchanged from generation to generation. Lessons are based around the thoughts, ideas and observations of the child. The goal is to cultivate a passion for exploration and learning that will last a lifetime.
It is the student who directs the pace at which learning proceeds instead of the teacher. Those who need to go at a slower pace are allowed to do so and those who want to rush eagerly ahead are also accommodated. This takes unnatural pressure off students and means that they themselves can determine when they are ready to move on to something new.
The educators also function differently. They function as nurturers and guides rather than as an authoritarian figure. Italian teacher, Loris Malaguzzi, saw the need to change the way teachers and students interacted. He felt that a teacher needed to facilitate exploration, discovery and problem solving by listening closely to what students have to say and observing their interactions.
Movement, drawing, shadow play, sculpture, painting and music are all means used to promote communication, development of creativity, problem solving and ability to connect ideas. The thinking of the student is made visible through the use language skills and various materials. The skills and values developed in this way help the student to develop and grow in a lifelong process.
There is no such thing as passing or failing and this frees children to use each opportunity to grow without focusing on marks. Exams and tests force children to assimilate facts and regurgitate them, often without understanding them. This method allows them to absorb more meaningful knowledge that helps them to develop skills and values required for growth and future functioning in society.
Parents are regarded as an important part of the process of learning. They are intimately involved and teachers and parents exchange ideas. Documentation in the form of photographs and transcriptions of words and dialogue are kept for parents to see. This documentation also helps teachers to evaluate their work and understand their students better.
Children discover what they understand, know, question, imagine and feel and then communicate this. They do this by being given the freedom to learn what they want to learn at their own pace. Teachers, parents and children are all involved in the learning process but the child is at the center, developing into a responsible, respectful, insightful, creative adult well able to function fruitfully in society.
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