A context for discovery

In April 2024, Adam participated in an international study tour to Reggio Emilia, Italy, immersing himself in the Reggio Emilia Approach. He was part of the Australian delegation led by the Reggio Emilia Australia Information Exchange. Adam says that his experience has brought to life more than ten years of reading, listening and thinking about the principles of Reggio Emilia. He shares that the experience has awakened a different kind of curiosity, wonder and responsibility for his work. He says that, as anticipated, he leaves the experience with more questions than answers, finding comfort in the words of Maddalena Tedeschi (Pedagogista, Reggio Emilia), who reminded participants that ‘...our conversations can go on forever and ever in the freedom of discovery...’

My experiences in Reggio Emilia awakened a lighter self, yet intellectively invigorated, charged with a sense of collaboration and a deep sense of responsibility for having had the privilege to share in the week’s encounters. As the train pulled away from Reggio Emilia, I held in mind the responsibility of this experience, a renewed commitment to making choices about my work ruminated through my body, the responsibility and choice to design something new for children, families and educators I work with. I sat on the train with a sense of ease, lighter, softer and all the more optimistic, knowing that my week had been spent being professionally nourished alongside educators from around the globe. Together encountering a shared experience, a coming together with a commitment to and for children. Perhaps this experience offered me hope, aspiration and an ignition to keep my heart and mind attuned to what was truly important. Voices echoed in cafés, hallways, bookstores, piazzas and hotel lobbies as those who had been touched by the experience shared ideas of challenge, change and hope. Ideas travelled about all week long as our colleagues from Reggio Emilia generously shared their thinking and research. Visits to schools and documentation panels in the Malaguzzi Centre brought to life these words and experiences. Atelier offerings demonstrated possibilities for how we might playfully engage in the process of designing learning.

My notebooks filled with quotes, ideas, provocations, wonderings and questions, a springboard to reflect on my encounters. Ideas travel back and forth, and my mind continues to ruminate on the experience. Photographs and videos catapult me back to places and spaces, while an unexpected message from a friend, sent while abroad, fills me with excitement for what they might be thinking, practising or pondering.

With a notebook full of possibilities, a head and heart ready to lean into the possible, I exude gratuity for my experience, offering here a handful (of the many generosities offered) of ideas that have been consciously ruminating for me, weaving their threads into my daily practice.

Staying curious: 

In the opening keynote Maddalena Tedeschi invited us to stay curious, to think about how we keep our curiosity. Perhaps curiosity is afforded when we open ourselves to the possibilities of noticing the generosity of children and thinking carefully about how we respond. For this to happen, there is power in seeing and analysing from different perspectives (including philosophical); in this way, we hold ourselves to a curious disposition and habit of mind. It’s about slowing down to see the magic in the everyday, notice the extortionary in the ordinary and lift this joyful curiosity for one another in the pursuit of intellectual endeavours that entangle us in more curiosities. Returning to teaching, I hold in mind the words of our colleagues in Reggio Emilia, who invited us to return with ‘attentive eyes’.

Above sides: 

Threaded throughout our week, the historical underpinnings that informed the Reggio Emilia approach were emphasised and lifted. There was a powerful declaration of our responsibility as teachers and leaders in being for and leading peace. This a reminder to foster the conditions that build collaboration, choosing to advocate and work for the rights of children with a sense of optimism that nudges forward a new kind of humanism in the world. 

Maddalena Tedeschi explained that the 100 languages are a great metaphor, anthropological and social and that they declare the many ways or possibilities for communication, serving as a reminder to hold open potentialities for communication so that we can deeply understand children, families, and communities and each other in the quest to create places of quality, sensibility and joyfulness that are above sides.

Designing the time to collaborate: 

As a graduate teacher, I began to appreciate the power of collaboration as my thoughtful Director intentionally designed the organisational structures that allowed this to happen. Here in Reggio Emilia, I was springboarded into the gift of collaboration and reminded of its social and political powers that help us search for meaning. Our colleagues in Reggio Emilia provoked us to think about spaces of coming together in non-hierarchical ways and participate in the collegial work of study, research and concrete experiences. In these moments, there is opportunity to dialogue, construct and re-construct thinking – because together is where real research is done. These conversations hold pedagogical power in designing great learning for children and the formative professional learning that enables us to grow as teachers. In these spaces, we are building schools capable of listening and being open to learning (even when the conversation is difficult) (Maddalena Tedeschi, Pedagogista, Reggio Emilia).

Adults as references for children: 

This idea was an important reminder for me: what kind of reference point do we choose to be for children? We are the reference point for children in their lives and learning. Children are looking to us as educators to understand the world around them – social, political and so forth. If we think about designing learning, how might we hold this idea in mind? What are the contexts that we design for children to extend and dilate their realities – to see and understand both familiar and unfamiliar contexts in new ways? This involves ‘going along with the game, taking risks, digging in and be curious’ (Maddalena Tedeschi, Pedagogista, Reggio Emilia).

The experience has had a profound impact on me professionally and personally. I hold tight to the words, learnings, and connections made. It has opened a new window of discovery for imagining what might be possible in the contexts in which I work.

Thank you to Semann and Slattery for the invitation to reflect on this experience. As I revisited my notes and photographs, I found new notes and traces to explore. Thank you to my wonderful wife and children for helping me prepare for and participate in this experience — a gift never forgotten. Gratitude to colleagues and friends who joined me in the experience, and cheers to the new connections made along the way.