The Reggio Emilia Approach®: a fresh exploration

With Reggio Children recognised teacher-educators on the Reggio Emilia Approach Debi Keyte-Hartland (Early Education Associate Consultant) and Louise Lowings (Headteacher of Madeley Nursery School, Telford & Wrekin, and Sightlines Initiative Trustee).

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This series is hosted by Early Education. When booking, Sightlines Initiative members should contact Sightlines Initiative office to obtain their registration members discount code.

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Debi and Louise have visited Reggio Emilia on numerous Sightlines Initiative study groups over the past 25 years, each time researching a different aspect of their pedagogy and practice. As representatives of Sightlines Initiative they have undertaken professional development with Reggio Children to become recognised teacher-educators on the Reggio Approach (a new initiative of Reggio Children through the Reggio Children International Network). 

Dates:

This professional learning opportunity consists of four sessions:

• In-person day: 10.30am – 2.30pm – Saturday 3rd May 2025 at Madeley Nursery School, Telford & Wrekin, West Midlands (The setting will be open from 9.30am and will close at 3.30pm to enable people to look around before or after the professional learning day.)
• Online session 1: 4pm-5.30pm – 14th May 2025
• Online session 2: 4pm-5.30pm – 22nd May 2025
• Online session 3:  4pm-5.30pm – 3rd June 2025

Aims:

This deep professional learning opportunity supported and guided by Reggio Children, Italy and run in conjunction with Sightlines Initiative, the UK Reggio Children International Network organisation and hosted by Early Education aims to enable participants to consider young children’s learning and development (from birth to 6) and the activating role of the adult.

Participants will explore and consider the principles of Reggio’s world-renowned educational philosophy & practice. They will explore the themes of research, documentation, the interpretation of children’s processes of learning and development, and the ways in which children co-construct knowledge.

The Reggio Emilia Approach® is an educational philosophy based on the image of a child with strong potentialities for development and a subject with rights, who learns through the hundred languages belonging to all human beings and grows in relations with others. It is an inclusive pedagogy that develops adults’ skills in attuning to the ways in which young children learn and develop through curating and designing rich and responsive learning contexts to enable all children to thrive and flourish.

‘The hundred languages’ is a powerful concept which considers how each child has different ways of encountering and knowing the world. All languages, whether that be drawing, writing, dance, music, mathematics, or digital (and many more besides) all have an equality in how young children explore, express, and learn.

Themes to be explored include learning through:

• Inclusion and participation
• Communication and the 100 languages
• Building community
• Creativity and the arts
• Curriculum design and learning environments

This professional learning community is designed to facilitate reflective thinking on your practice in which you will be empowered to make links between the Reggio Emilia Approach ®, and your early years practice.

The in-person day at Madeley Nursery School will be a time of connecting as a community and designed around exploring the history and context in which the infant-toddler and pre-schools of Reggio Emilia evolved, and its relevancy to transforming early years education in the UK today. It will be accompanied with comprehensive presentation and discussion around the principles and philosophy of the approach supported by in-depth documentation, case studies, and images.

There will also be practical exploration through two workshops (one designed for the under 3’s, with another designed for adults working with children aged 3-6 years). The day will end with actions for moving forward and group agreements for the focus of the three online participatory sessions which will be designed around the needs and requests of the group.

Ticket pricing:

• For one delegate: £250 for members of Early Education and Sightlines/£275 for non-members (for one in-person day course and three virtual sessions) – early bird rate available until 22nd March 2025 (prices then increase by £25 per place).

To pay by invoice or to complete a block booking, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with your purchase order number and the name and email of your delegate(s) to complete registration.

With membership of Early Education, you can get a discount on this event - memberships start from £11.25 per quarter. To access your discount if you are a Sightlines member, enter the access code provided by Sightlines when booking and the ticket will become available to purchase.

This professional learning community is suitable for anyone:

• who has attended a study group to Reggio Emilia in the past who is wanting to connect and/or deepen their practice in dialogue with the Reggio Emilia Approach ®
• thinking about attending a study tour in the near future to visit the pre-schools and infant toddler centres of Reggio Emilia
• curious to know more about the approach which has become an international reference point throughout the world.

*This could be linked to the Early Years Foundation Stage Statutory Framework, and other national frameworks participants may be working with such as Curriculum for Wales; Curriculum for Excellence, Scotland; Northern Ireland’s Curricular Guidance for Pre-School Education; Northern Ireland Curriculum Foundation Stage; or international curricula such as the Primary Years Programme (PYP).