Professional Development
To say that this method requires a highly professional workforce is an understatement. As the authors state, this methodology is not so much about a radical change in how we plan curriculum but rather about a radical change in how we relate to children. They go so far as to suggest a great deal of what is traditionally taught in early childhood education training programs needs to be un-learned in order to learn how to teach this way. For Reggio to become a day-to-day reality in our classrooms, what are the critical skills and dispositions do we need to foster in our staffs? Do you have to find people with these dispositions, or can you help adults used to doing things very differently change? What are some techniques for getting there?
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From reading the book I think CREATIVITY is a big step forward when teaching with Reggio. Teachers need to grow into a new relationship with children by listening, observing, valuing and responding to children's expressions of interests, feelings and ideas.
Some of the techniques mentioned in the book to help to get there are weekly/monthly meetings with staff,teachers, aides, parents and directors. They suggest one becomes involved in research studies as well.
I think it is first important for the staff to learn that a big change won’t all happen over night. But that it takes time, practice, and effort to apply a new philosophy to the classroom. Education and training is a must. Start with small goals and try to achieve them over several weeks, maybe months. Teachers will start to see for themselves how following the children’s interests actually get them more excited about learning. Rather than forcing children to sit and listen, they’ll be eager to participate in the group lessons.
It would also be helpful for staff members to visit other successful programs where they can see the Reggio approach working and how excited and more attentive the children are to learning with this process.
Professional Development ??
For Reggio to become a day to day reality in our classrooms Teachers would need to take the role of a facilitator ( a learner) as suggested, The so called Paradigm shift in chapter 10. They would have to adjust to a no right or wrong attitude. Learn to be objective, patient, and very aware. Listening and observing is not a typical skill high on the list of a teacher of todays world. Learning to listen would need to be taught for sure. The idea of “ many kinds of smarts” and different learning techniques of which I was just reading about myself would come into play. We are not all alike—surprise-surprise! Some children are Linguistic , Logical, Spatial, Musical, Interpersonal etc. Reggios approach allows for these creativities unlike the traditional teaching! Everyone is capable of changing! But, true, Re-teaching would be difficult! Most do not embrace change. Agendas would need to change in order to back the teachers or rather “Researchers” as they would now be. A good start to getting there would be to read this book for starters. Documentations, support staff, workshops would all help the process
In Reggio Emilia we must be willing to turn over the planning and direction of the curriculum to the child. As teachers of early education we are taught to thoughtfully plan themes based on the interests, abilities, and needs of our class by creating activities that cross the curriculum and include all of the learning domains. Often it is based on sequential learning. In contrast, the Reggio method suggests a curriculum that is uncertain and to plan as teachers we need to imagine what possible outcomes may arise from the children’s exploration of a topic.
We are most often taught to view documentation as a way to access a child’s strengths and challenges rather than as a way to listen for the child’s interests and ideas. Documentation in the Reggio philosophy focuses on the capabilities rather than on the deficits of a child.
The successful professional development described in the book focuses on the “parallel process” in which the coordinators listen to the teachers and their thoughts and ideas which in turn encourages the teachers to listen to the children.
I feel that no matter what you are trying to change, as in this case implementing
a new approach, there can be conflicts due to different personalities and comfort
levels. Also, it could be more difficult to begin or take a longer because of the levels of
education and years of experience of your staff members. If you are the person who is
promoting the Reggio approach to co-workers there are a few things to do first. For example,
it is important to do your homework by researching and learning about it as much as possible.
Then share some books and resources that would be helpful to your co-workers. You could
visit a program who is currently having success in this area. Lastly, you could help them find
workshops or trainings in your area. When you are ready, start with one or two aspects of
Reggio that could easily be accomplished in a short amount of time to help boost the
confidence of your staff. Hopefully if you are excited about the learning process, the staff
will also want to grow as teachers and add this curriculum to their Professional Development
Plan.
Learning to listen, observe, reflect and respond are some critical teacher skills mentioned
in the book in Chapter 2. For some people this comes more naturally and others may have to
work harder at it. Teachers also have to do a lot of documenting and compiling of work
samples from the child in portfolios. It was mentioned in Chapter 7 that teachers need to
collaborate by “sharing ideas and to listen and respond to one another's ideas”. Having
Good parent communication skills also plays a big part in the daily routine in these
classrooms.
while the i think the reggio principles work, staff have a lot of work to do. your staff do need to rethink their way of teaching.i think they need to first read this book. talk with their co teachers in ways this will work for them. the staff i work with, have all been there for many,many years and think they may not want to change. with that said, i think it should involve the director to educate staff and parents on this way of teaching. make small changes and build on them. everyone needs to be on the page for this to work. if you can, some fresh staff can be added that will be enthusiastic to begin and the rest of the staff will have to catch up
I agree with Angela that long-time staff may be resistant to change. After years of teaching a certain way it can be very difficult to try a new approach as in the Reggio way. It will require a lot of dedication but the results will be worth it!
Lynda and Angela your right about teachers being set in their ways and not responsive to the Reggio approach. I had teachers of ten years saying that it was just a fad or it would be over done like Montessori, to the point where you would have to attend college to be able to use this approach. In take aways I wrote about when I first introduced it to my staff. i tried a calm setting with tables in a circle so conversation flowed around and across the space. Alot of the first responses were "How will we teach letters, colors, numbers, themes, etc.?" When we talked more(and it took months for them to see)we looked at the level of involvement by the children and the quality of that involvement for the sake of the child. Soon when we started listening to the children and documenting it was easier to discuss it in the abstract way I feel it must be done. But sor some it was a burden, too much writing, too much talking. Some just wanted to come and do "THEIR" job. After a while they did not work there anymore. The ones who stayed and keep trying to broaden the scoop of iimagination like the feeling discussing children in thisnew way makes them feel. More like a facilitator, guide, nurturer, and the school the village. After twelve years our infant teacher lives it whithin the infant room and the babies flourish in an environment of sights, sounds, and tactile experiences that are rewarded by babies seeking out interaction. New ways and techniques always take time and testing.
We have two preschool classrooms in our center and in the past, our curriculum plans and discussion were individual and separate. The classroom were also separated by age, with one classroom consisting of younger preschoolers and the other with 4-5 year olds. We recently converted to two mixed-age classrooms and I think this has opened up a dialogue between the teachers in both groups. Book discussions,such as this one, visits to Reggio programs,and conversations among all the staff members,not just team members, will help to strengthen this philosophy in our center. We can teach and support each other.
Critical skills? I think the most critical skill that must be learned by all teachers is how to listen. To really listen, have a converstaion and pay attention. Then comes the observing and recording and evaluating. I do not feel we need to find teachers who already do this but teachers can be trained to do this. Once teachers can listen, observe, record and evaluate, honestly, they then must learn to ask the appropriate questions to facilitate a deeper conversation. Reading this book can go a long way in helping teachers do this. One thing in the book that is very helpful is when the authors ask us a question pertaining to the dialog given (in the shaded area, for example pg.45) If teachers really took those questions/statements seriously, and answered them...they will be on their way.
Professional development!
Well, I slept on this comment and figured , what he heck! After Reading the blogs here and there, I cant help but wonder is there enough time and money for all this redirection? Would/ could society even think about taking it on? All the trials and errors ahead! What would be lost and would the gains be worth it! Most of us did not have this approach afforded to us! Some of us still prevailed as most will! Wont that be the case no matter what, That some will flourish, grow and respond either way! And others may not! I definitely feel It is great to be Mindful of all the reggiio Principles fro sure, A healthy attitude towards children, maybe this is what we need to integrate into out public system above and beyond, .
I agree that the fundamental skills that are necessary in realizing this approach are listening skills (active listening/listening for meaning) and observation skills. I do think that although these skills can be taught, there are some people who intuitively understand the values inherent in listening and observation. And I have definitely worked with teachers over the years who did not appear to be at all comfortable with an approach that requires this level of trust in the capacity of others and partnership in terms of direction.
I think it is crucial for early childhood education training programs to shift back to a focus on developing observation skills, a deeper understanding of the values of play, and more extensive knowledge of work in the field of developmental psychology. Programs need to develop each future teacher’s ability to observe individual and small groups of children in an open-ended way, learning to collect objective information about what is observed and learning how to analyze and use that information. Observations need to include time observing individual children and small groups of children freely organizing their own play experiences, then time analyzing how the observation can inform a teacher. Ideally, some of these observations would include a variety of settings – home, neighborhood playground, as well as classroom – and interactions that include a variety of adults (parents and/or teachers). Future teachers also need to know how to look at a child’s work as a source of information into that individual’s development, learning style, and interests. They need to have an intimate and working knowledge of the sequences/continuum of development in the basic learning domains.
In addition, I think that it is important for future teachers to learn how to articulate what they see, what they know, and what values inform their classroom choices – both in conversations and in writing.
We often have students come in from a local college program at the beginning of their training in observation. In these early observations, students are asked to look for and describe specific content in learning areas like literacy, math, or science, usually linked to the MA frameworks. In my experience, this is required before the students have any real sense of either how to observe, or of what they are looking at. The majority of students will look for evidence in the classroom of teacher-directed activities, or of materials set up in the classrooms by teachers to “cover” these areas of learning. Their assignments give little room for open-ended thinking or analysis.
In addition, a minority of the students have had more than a partial chapter devoted to any specific developmental psychologist’s or philosopher’s work, and little time devoted to developing an understanding of the implications of that work for teachers.
In terms of dispositions required for this type of teaching, I’d say that teachers who are stimulated by children’s creativity and thinking, interested in learning, changing their practice, and growing professionally over time, and who value collaboration and the sharing of perspectives would be most successful. Since a great deal of work is necessary to realize these ideas, it would be helpful for teachers to have an understanding that “you get back from your work what you are willing to put in.”
I also think (as Debbie Lynn-Roy stated) that the most critical skill we need to learn is listening to children and asking questions in response to what they have to say. It is so easy to just teach by dictating to the children that we sometimes lose sight of how eager they are to learn if you engage them in meaningful questions and answers.
as teachers we should always be looking at how we can improve on educating children no matter your methods. reggio method or not,some children just as they say have a thirst for knowledge and retain information. you can have allthe documentation you want, what happens with that documentation when they enter a public school? what do you do to help the child that comes to the program and plays cars all day, who is not interested in asking questions and joining the group,its now documented,who do give this information to that will help this child? if this method is best, shouldnt this information follow them from grade to grade so they are sure to have the proper education
So many wonderful ideas! I think all the way back to Susan Benson's comment on Feb. 8 - if documentation were viewed as a way of getting to KNOW the children rather than a way to classify children and fit them to a checklist, we would be on a positive path. I also agree that we don't often truly LISTEN to children or hear what they're really trying to communicate to us. but I think the other underdeveloped skill is knowing how to keep the conversation GOING without taking over. Many times children's thoughts need to be drawn out, they're not just lying there on the surface to be observed, you have to DIG for them. Doing so in a way that is welcomed by the children and not viewed as an intrusion is difficult and takes practice and patience. Finally, I think staff need to start with the assumption that children are SMART, not that they are ignorant. As the wise master on the old Kung Fu series noted, "The fact that you do not understand another does not mean HE is confused".
For those of us who choose to be in the child education/care field we are a unique and different breed! Most others do not understand our mission to make a better world for all the children who come through our doors.Those individuals who are not open to changes presented do not belong in this career choice.I felf that bond during this book discussion online and at the face to face.No school nor center would start the Reggio program one monday morning without a staff being trained,onboard and open to this new change of educating the young child. Nothing is foolproof but if you don't try then you'll never know. Money will always be factor but there are ways to get around doing a full blown Reggio program and that my friend is priceless. Be kind to yourself! We do make a difference!
well said pshunstrom, if you are not in if for the children why do it at all...being open to new ideas is what teaching is all about.
It is true that we are in it for the children which is why we all go the "extra mile." People who are not in the early education field do not understand why we continually attend workshops and trainings. I know some people who think that it is not necessary because all we do is "take care of children." They don't realize the amount of teaching and learning that is taking place at an early age and the satisfaction we get at being a part of it.
The staff in teaching young children will be prepared to handle whatever method is used in the classroom. On going training could help as a teacher progresses in his/her career. The relationship would certainly improve between teacher and student due to the child feeling more secure in communicating with the teacher and his peers. The ability to help a student reach a comfort level on “how to learn” becomes the main theme while actually learning. The teachers will need to be patient and try to create a common goal for the children as they explore their interests in small and large groups. This, all within a time frame that needs to be established at the beginning of the school day. I believe that teachers can be helped to convert to the Reggio principles provided that the mandates for school learning is consistent with this approach. Teachers are evaluated on the performance of the children and as we know it is very hard to establish these achievement criteria with Reggio.
In response to Bill's comment,
The Massachusetts Curriculum Guidelines is just that, guidelines. These state standards are the minimum that should be taught in each grade. Using the Reggio approach can, and does, pull standards from a higher level for students to use at a lower level. It all depends on how the children co-construct the curriculum, and how it emerges. Where ever the interests of the group lead, the skills needed will be learned because they need them to continue the investigation. I think it is very easy to meet the achievement criteria using the Reggio approach.
For example, my pre school group wanted to investigate the solar system a few years ago. When I checked what we were doing with the state standards, I found that we were working at a two-grade advanced level in many areas.
i must admit when i first started working with children i did think i was a babysitter i came to a building and watched kids play!!! 7 years later and boy was i wrong:) i never realized how much they learn through playing alone!!!!! then i started going to workshops and again i admit i hated them i looked at as "i need hours" but i like going and becoming a better teacher with all i learn at each one.
Professional development should in the least try to review the Reggio principles that are positive for the young mind. Too much is geared toward the student’s ability to pass standardized test instead of enhancing the socio-emotional domain of the student in his learning ability. Good teachers can take a page out of a good pre-school teachers handbook that works to get the most out of a child and his creative, independent communication on topics of discussion. Children do learn easer and faster in environments where they are studying topics that interest them Imagine children going to school everyday stating that they cannot wait to get to class.
in terms of what is effective for professional development...i think that it can be so motivating to see a real classroom that functions under the reggio principals...i loved reading the dialogues and examining the photos in our books - seeing the theory put into action in an actual classroom is invaluable, and inspirational. BUT - it can also be overwhelming, and make you wonder how you can ever effect the changes necessary to move your own class/space/teaching in that direction...which is why i think it's valuable to think of small concrete steps you can take rather than trying to make all kinds of changes at once.
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