Sightlines South East Network Vision and Values

Here are some thoughts of members of the network on their values, as recorded at the network meeting on 4th October 2014:

Here are the values of the network as written in the Network Charter (October 2014):

We see children as rich in curiosity, competence and potential. They are innately sociable and seek exchanges. Their desire and predisposition to be curious, to enquire, to hypothesise, to be in relationship with others and to interpret and make sense of their experiences are basic human characteristics. Children are born with the qualities of curiosity, engagement, joy, exchange, wonder, and the ability to make and share understandings. It is their right to expect that these intrinsically human qualities will be recognised, respected and nurtured by adults, who are now empowered to act as their guardians and who frame their worlds. Children are makers of meaning and culture, and not simply the subjects of received information.

We see education as the creative process of exchange and relationship with the world, ourselves, and others. The task of educators is to support and encourage children's exploration and understanding. The acquisition of skills is not in itself an aim of education. Skills grow in the course of children's engagement in their learning, their relationships and their meaning-making.We see educational settings as places of research and innovation, where culture is created, not merely transmitted. This implies the active and continuous formation of vibrant, vivacious and sociable learning places and spaces which have our core values at their heart, clearly expressed in our pedagogical approaches.

Our educational work values engagement in, and imaginative exploration of, the natural world. Moving indoors, we see the school environment as a studio for the exploration and exchange of ideas, a place where children can bring all of their senses to the business of learning, and use all their expressive languages to make their learning visible.

We seek to promote the values of democracy, human rights and the 'competent child' in our work, through enabling

• a 'pedagogy of listening'BACK
• reflection and exchange amongst children and educators
• the multiple ways ('languages') in which children seek to express themselves
• action research projects in which the learning of both adults and children can be explored, developed and shared

This view of teaching and learning, of children and educators, of schools and education as a whole, owes much to Sightlines' continuing relationship with the educators of Reggio Emilia and their approach within the Municipality Preschools and Infant-Toddler Centres of the city. We can synthesise the above with the concept of developing an 'Environment of Enquiry': in which we particularly value

• Encountering
• Enquiring
• Exchanging
• Expressing

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