REGGIO EMILIAPresented by Susan DeRosa

PSY 515 H1 Child & Adolescent Development Professor Sibilia

HISTORY• Founded in Reggio Emilia, Italy after WWII

• Developed by Loris Malaguzzi an area teacher who assisted and guided parents with his constructivist philosophy as the school was established.

• Early Childhood Education Focus (0-6 y/o)

• An Approach, not a model

• Content Specific

“They [children] are autonomously capable of making meaning from their daily life experiences through mental acts involving planning, coordination of ideas, and abstraction.... The central act of adults, therefore, is to activate, especially indirectly, the meaning-making competencies of children as a basis of all learning. They must try to capture the right moments, and then find the right approaches, for bringing together, into a fruitful dialogue, their meanings and interpretations with those children.”

REGGIO EMILIA 8 PRINCIPLES

1. The image of the child: all children have potential, construct their own learning and are capable.

2. Community and system: children, family, teachers, parents, and community are interactive and work together.

3. Interest in environment and beauty: school and classrooms are beautiful places

4. Collaboration by teachers: team, partners, working together, sharing information, sharing in projects.

5. Time not set by clock: respect for children’s pace, time table, stay with teachers for several years, and relationships remain constant

6. Emergent curriculum/projects: child-centered, following their interest, returning again and again to add new insights.

7. Environmental stimulation: encourages activity, involvement, discovery, and using a variety of media.

8. Documentation: observing, recording, thinking and showing children’s learning.

THE PARTICIPANTS IN THIS APPROACHThe Child:

• Children are active citizens & contributing members to learning

• The have an interest in constructing their own learning

The Parents’

• Actively involved as a school member

• Opinions are sought out and valued

• Collaborate with teachers as partners in the school

The Teacher

• Learning along side the child rather than instructing on basic skills

• View as researchers

• Involved in continued professional development on childhood learning

THE CURRICULUM• Nothing is preset

• Observation and questioning helps teachers decide how best to approach individual learning, needs, and interests

• Student-led, while teachers guide along side them

• Projects are generated from child’s curiosity or questions as a natural course of a school day• Can last for days to months• Provide the basis for learning

RESEARCH STUDYSchneider, B., Manetti, M, Frattinin, L., Rania, N., Santo, J., Coplan, R., Swinn, E. (2014). Successful transition to elementary school and the implementation of facilitative practices specified in the Reggio-Emilia philosophy. School Psychology International, 35(5) 447-462.

????

REGGIO EMILIA METRICS STUDIED:

• Transition Practices from Pre-school to Elementary School Education

1. Academic Achievement

2. School Liking3. Cooperativeness4. Problem

Behaviors

STUDY DESIG

N

Baseline Characteristics

• Cities of Genoa and La Spezia

• Varied SES

• One Research Assistant

• Studied at month 3, 9 before/after transition for 5 years

Study Participants

• 131 Boys 157 Girls

• Schools

• Teachers

• Parents

RESULTSMetric1:Academic Achievement

• Significantly decreased year one

• Increased year two

• Overall not statistically significant by year 5

Metric 2: School Liking• Pupil rated: no significant effect

• Teacher school liking decreased year 1 and year 2

• Girls higher rated vs. boys

• High implementation schools- higher school liking in year 2

• Medium implementation schools-lowered in year 2

• Low Implementation schools-decreased over transitioned

• No significant differences by year 5

RESULTSMetric 3: Cooperativeness• Significant increases over first year

and continued into the second

• Degree of mother’s education correlated to drop in cooperativeness during transition

• Girls showed higher cooperativeness than boys

• Between school variation significantly associated with cooperativeness

Metric 4: Problem Behavior• Significant decrease in year one

• Mother’s education level negatively correlated to increased problem behavior

• School level of implementation directly correlated to increased problem behavior• Low=greatest problem behavior• Middle= less than low schools• High= significantly less than middle

CONCLUSION

• The degree of implementation of REA transition strategies were directly associated with better adjustment after transition from preschool to elementary school.

• There were startling differences in how REA schools approached transition practices.• Even though Italy mandates facilitation of school

transition practices, there is a great deal of latitude in how schools should execute practices.

• This study further supports the importance of placing systematic, effective procedures in place to facilitate school transitions.

• More studies are needed to identify which interventions have the greatest potential for success.

• School psychologists are encouraged to facilitate transition practices with the student, parents, teachers and school; especially for those students at risk for unsuccessful transition.