A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of attending a keynote speech by Lilian Katz, prolific and well recognized author and speaker in the area of project-based learning with young children. Lisa and I drove out to Burnaby for the event and talked non-stop there and back. We were both so inspired by hearing her speak and made all sorts of connections to our own work. For me, her talk on "lessons learned from Reggio" really resonated with the writing I am doing now for my dissertation and once again, I was nudged along to think that I had an important story to share. These little nudges along the way motivate me to keep going.
Stand aside for a while and leave room for learning. Observe carefully what children do, and then, if you have understood well, perhaps teaching will be different than before.
- Loris Malaguzzi
On Wednesday, Sarah, Gillian and I drove out to New Westminster to take in the Wonder of Learning exhibit. This exhibit shares work from the schools for young children in the two of Reggio Emilia in northern Italy. The work they have done there is so inspiring for many reasons but particularly because it has been responsive to the students and the community. The child is highly valued and inquiry projects begin with the children's interests and questions.
The exhibit was beautiful, I so appreciated the aesthetic manner in which the children's work was shared and documented. I made all sorts of connections to my dissertation and am inspired to think about some things in different ways when working with older students.
I think I will be back to immerse myself at least a few more times!
After wandering through the exhibit, we enjoyed a very good lunch at Wild Rice, enjoyed the boardwalk and river. It was a lovely day out with good friends and yet another little nudge for me!
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