EARLY - Howard Gardner · PDF fileBeverly Falk, Editor • Foreword by Linda...
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Beverly Falk, Editor • Foreword by Linda Darling-Hammond Defending CHILDHOOD Keeping the Promise of EARLY EDUCATION
Transcript of EARLY - Howard Gardner · PDF fileBeverly Falk, Editor • Foreword by Linda...
BeverlyFalk,Editor•ForewordbyLindaDarling-Hammond
DefendingCHILDHOOD
KeepingthePromiseof
EARLYEDUCATION
EARLYCHILDHOODEDUCATIONSERIES
rfendingChildhood:tepingthePromiseofEarlyEducationBEVF.RI.YFAuçEn.
on’tLeavetheStoryintheBook:UsingLiteraturetouideInquiryinEarlyChildhoodClassroomsMARYHYNES-BERRY
actingwithTheirStrengths:singtheProjectApproachinnyChildhoodSpecialEducationDEBORAHC.I.icicrv&DtNistJ.PoWERS
SePlay’stheThing:arhers’RolesinChildren’sPlay,2ndEd.
ELIZABETHJONES&GRETCHENREYNOLDS
celveBestPracticesforEarlyChildhoodEducation:tegratingReggioandOilierInspiredApproachesANNLEWIN-BENHAM
gScienceforGrowingMinds:ConsiructivistIassroomsforYoungThinkersJACQUELiNEGRENNONBROOKS
‘hatIfAlltheKidsAreWhite?Anti-BiasMulticulturallucationwithYoungChildrenandFamilies,2ndEd.LOUISEDERMAN-SPARKS&PalluciAG.RAMSEY
enandHeard:hildren’sRightsinEarlyChildlsoodEducation
ELLENLYNNHALL&JENNIFERKOEKINRUOKIN
oungInvestigators:TheProjectApproachinthearlyYears,2ndEd.JUoyHasutisHELM&LILIANG.KArl
upportingBoys’Learning:StrategiesforTeacherracticc,PreK—Grade3BARBARASPRUNG,MERLEFiso.scrn.,&NANCYCROPPER
‘our.dnghishLanguageLearners:CurrentResearchandmergIngDirectionsforPracticeandPolicyEUGENEE.GARCiA&ELIINC.FREOL,Ens.
onnectingEmergentCurriculumandStandardsintheanyChildhoodClassroom:StrengtheningContentandeacherPracticeSYDNEYL.SCHWAIITZ&SHERRYM.Cni’Ei.AND
ifantsandToddlersatWork:UsingReggio-lnspiredlaterialstoSupportBrainDevelopment
ANNLEWIN-BENHAM
heViewfromtheLittleChairintheCorner:Improving
eacherPracticeandEarlyChildhoodLearning(WisdomomanExperiencedClassroomObserverj
CINDYRZASABESS
ultureandChildDevelopmentinEarlyChildhoodograms:PracticesforQualityEducationandCareC.SROLLEEHows
TheEarlyInterventionGuidebookforFamiliesandProfessionals:PartneringforSuccess
BONNIEKEILTY
TheStoryinthePicture:
InquiryandArrmakingwithYoungChildrenCHRISTINEMULCAHEY
EducatingandCaringforVeryYoungChildren:TheInfant/ToddlerCurriculum,2ndEd.
DosBERGEN.REBECCAREin,&LouisTORELLI
BeginningSchool:U.S.PoliciesinInternationalPerspectiveRICHAiWM.CLiFFoRD&GisEi.EM.CRAWFORD,Eos.
EmergentCurriculuminthePnniarClassroom:InterpretingtheReggioEmiliaApproachinSchools
CAROLANNEWIEN,En.EnthusiasticandEngagedLearners:ApproachestoLearningintheEarlyChildhoodClassroom
MAR1L0UHYS0N
PowerfulChildren:UnderstandingHowtoTeachandLearnUsingtheReggioApproach
ANNLEWIN-BENHAM
TheEarlyCareandEducationTeachingWorkforccattheFulcrum:AnAgendaforReform
SHARONLYNNKAGAN,KRISTIEKAUERZ,&
KATETARRANT
Windosv.sonLearning:DocumentingYoungChildren’sWork,2ndEd.
JUDYHARRISHxi.ta,SALLEEBENEKE,&KAnrnSTEiNHEiMER
ReadyorNot:LeadershipChoicesinEarlyCareandEducation
STACiEC.COFFIN&VAI.ORAWASHINGTON
SupervisioninEarlyChildhoodEducation:ADevelopmentalPerspective.3rdEd.
JOSEPHJ.CaRusoWITHM.TEEsILEFAWCETr
GuidingChildren’sBehavior:DevelopmentalDisciplineintheClassroom
EILEENS.PUCKER&JANETANDRONHOFFMAN
TheWarPlayDilemma:WhatEveryParentandTeacherNeedstoKnow,2ndF.d.
DIANEE.LEVIN&NANCYCARLSSON-PAIGE
PossibleSclsools:TheReggioApproachtoUrbanEducation
ANNLIIWIN-BENHAM
EverydayGoodbyes:StartingSchoolandEarlyCare—AGuidetotheSeparationProcess
NANCYBALABAN
PlayingtoGetSmartELIZABETHJONES&RENATrAM.COOPER
SharonRyan,Editor.DVISORYBOARD:CeliaGenishi,DorisFromberg,CarrieLobman,RachelTheilbeimer,DominicGullo,
AmitaGupta,BeatriceFennimore,SueGrieshaber,JackieMarsh,MindyBlaise,GailYuen,AliceHonig,BettyJones,StephanieFeeney,StacieGoffin,BethGraue
(co,zn;uwdì
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Situ’>tjtIc’>,
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YR
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EL
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EV
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Y&
I).C
.Pustl.tti’s
IdeasInfluencing
EarlyC
hildhoodEduc.stsssim
EyeL
eTs
WetteR
The
Joy
of
Movem
ent
inEarly
Chmldlsssod
SAsnisA
R.C
isiiris
DE
FE
ND
ING
CH
ILD
HO
OD
Keeping
theP
romise
ofE
arlyE
ducation
Beverly
FalkED
ITOR
Linda
Darling-H
amm
ond
FOREW
ORD
TBICHERSCOLLEGE
PRE
SST
eachersC
ollege,C
olu
mb
iaU
niv
ersityN
ewY
orkan
dL
on
do
n
Conte
nts
PA
RT
I:H
OW
CH
ILD
RE
NG
RO
WA
ND
DE
VE
LO
P:IM
PL
ICA
TIO
NS
FOR
TE
AC
HIN
G
1.T
heScience
ofEarly
Childhood
Developm
ent:L
essonsfor
Teachers
andC
aregivers
ToddA.
Grindal,
Christina
Hinton,
andlack
P.Shonkoff
2.A
Taleof
Tw
oSchools:
The
Promise
ofPlayful
Learning
JessaR
eed,K
athyH
irsh-Pasek,and
Roberta
M.
Golinkoff
3.H
onoringthe
Livesof
AllC
hildren:Identity,
Culture,
andL
anguage
SoniaN
ieto
4.L
ow-Incom
eFam
iliesand
Young
Children’s
Developm
entand
SchoolSuccess
Barbara
Bow
man
andA
ishaR
ay
PAR
TII:
DA
NG
ER
ST
OC
HIL
DH
OO
DP
OS
ED
BY
OU
RC
UL
TU
RE
5.Foreclosed
Childhoods:
Poverty,Inequality,
andD
iscardingthe
Young
Valerie
Polakow
Foreword
byL
indaD
arling-Ham
mond
Acknow
ledgments
Introduction
Beverly
Falk
kib
lished
byT
eachersC
ollegePress,
1234A
msterdam
Avenue,
New
York,
NY
[0027
Zopyrig
ht
©2012
byT
eachersC
ollege,C
olu
mbia
University
\llrig
hts
reserved.N
opart
ofthis
pu
blicatio
nm
aybe
repro
du
cedor
transm
ited
inan
yform
orl)y
an’
means,
electronic
orm
echan
ical,in
clud
ing
pho
ocopy,or
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rmatio
nstorage
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,w
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ission
romth
epublish
er.
.ibraryof
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Catcm
loging—in—
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)efendin
gch
ildhood
:keepingthe
promise
ofearly
education/
editedby
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alk.
p.cm
.—(E
arlych
ildhood
educationseries)
Includesbib
liograp
hical
refer—nces
and
index
.ISB
N978-0-8077-53
10-1(pbki—
ISB
N978-0-8077-5311-8
hard
cov
er)E
arlych
ildhood
educatio
n—
United
States,
2.C
hilddev
elopm
ent—
Unit
dS
tates.I.
Falk,B
everly.LB1
139.25.1)442012
372.210973—
dc232011042488
SBN
978—0—
8077-5310-1(paper)
SBN
978-0-8077-5311-8(hardcover)
‘rintedo
nacid-free
pap
er
‘lanufacturedin
the
United
States
ofA
merica
918
1716
1514
1312
87
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43
21 IL
viixi
1324486389
V
Contents
.W
orkingw
ithL
atinoP
reschoolers:
The
Literacy
and
Language
Goals
ofT
eachersand
Mothers
114
Delis
Cuéllar
andE
ugeneE.
Garcia
Media,
Technology,
andC
omm
ercialism:
Fo
rewo
rdC
ounteringth
eT
hreatsto
Young
Children
133
Nancy
Carlsson-Paige
‘1S
tandardizedT
esting:It
hasb
eensaid
that
the
measu
reof
an
ation
ishow
ittreats
itsU
nheed
edIssues
That
Impact
Children’s
Learning
im
ostvuln
erable
citizens.
By
that
measure,
there
isa
crisisin
the
Unit-
George
Madaus
andT
errenceLee-St.
Johned
States,
especially
with
respect
too
ur
child
ren.
We
livein
an
ation
that
ison
the
vergeof
forg
etting
itsch
ildren
.
The
Un
itedS
tatesflO
Wh
asa
farh
igh
erp
ov
er
ratefor
child
renth
anP
AR
TIII:
IMA
GE
SO
FP
OS
SIB
ILIT
YA
ND
RE
CO
MM
EN
DA
TIO
NS
FOR
TH
EFU
TU
RE
any
oth
erin
du
strializedco
untry
(nearly25%
,alm
ost
do
uble
what
it
was
30years
ago);a
more
tatteredsafety
net—
more
who
arehom
eless,
Tensions
Past,P
resent,an
dF
uture:U
singL
iteratureto
with
out
health
care,an
dw
ithou
tfood
security;a
more
segregatedan
d
Prom
oteSocial
Aw
arenessand
Literacy
inC
hildreni
ineq
uitab
lesy
stemof
pu
blic
educatio
n(w
itha
10:1ratio
insp
endin
g
Sacross
the
cou
ntry
);a
largeran
dm
ore
costly
systemof
incarceratio
nR
obertL.
Se/man
andJanet
Kw
okth
anan
yco
untry
inth
ew
orld
(the
Un
itedS
tateshas
5%of
the
world’s
1populatio
nan
d25%
ofits
inm
ates)an
done
that
isn
ow
directly
cut
).C
reatingP
owerful
Learning
Experiences
inEarly
Child
hood
ting
into
the
money
we
sho
uld
besp
endin
gon
edu
cation
;a
defen
seL
essonsfrom
Good
Teaching
192budget
largerth
anth
atof
the
nex
t20
cou
ntries
com
bin
ed;
and
greater
Mara
Krechevsky,
Ben
Mardell,
Tiziana
Fl//pp/ni,and
How
ardG
ardnerdisparities
inw
ealthth
anan
yoth
erlead
ing
coun
try(th
ew
ealthiest
1%of
indiv
iduals
contro
l25%
ofour
country’sresources).
The
School
ofth
e21st
Century:
While
there
isan
intensifiedin
terestto
day
inhow
educatio
ncan
Addressing
the
Needs
ofthe
Whole
Child
218prep
arey
ou
ng
peo
ple
forth
e21S
tcen
tury
,th
em
edia,
politician
s,an
d
policy
mak
ersto
ooften
focusth
eiratten
tion
on
testing
and
accoun
t-E
dward
Zig/er
andM
at/aFinn-Stevenson
ability,usin
gin
ternatio
nal
testscore
com
pariso
ns
tob
emo
anou
rstu
dents’lack
-luster
perfo
rman
cein
relation
toth
estu
den
tsof
oth
erT
heC
aseFor
InvestingIn
Young
Children
235hig
h-p
erform
ing
countries.
Yet
there
islittle
talkab
out
what
hig
h
JamesJ.
Heckm
anp
erform
ing
natio
ns—
like
Fin
land,
Sin
gap
ore,
and
Can
ada—
actually
do.T
hey
ensu
reth
atall
child
renhav
ehousin
g,
health
care,an
dfo
od
Conclusion:
Supporting
Children’s
Education
andC
are:y;
they
fund
schoo
lseq
uitab
ly;
they
invest
inhig
h-q
uality
Putting
IntoP
racticeW
hatW
eK
now243
prep
aration
,m
ento
ring
,an
dp
rofessio
nal
dev
elop
men
tfor
teachers
and
leaders;th
eyo
rgan
izea
curricu
lum
arou
nd
pro
blem
-solv
ing
and
Beverly
Folkcritical-th
inkin
gskills;
and
they
teststu
den
tsrarely,
relyingin
steadon
assessmen
ts(o
ftend
evelo
ped
and
scoredby
teachers)
that
inclu
de
ut
theE
ditorand
the
Contributors
251research
pro
jects,scien
tificin
vestig
ation,
and
oth
erin
tellectually
challen
gin
gw
ork,all
ofw
hich
areused
toin
form
and
supp
ort
teach
ex259
ing,not
toran
kan
dsort
teachers
orschools.
More
about
these
strategies
forh
ow
tosu
pport
children’sd
evelo
pm
ent,
teachin
g,
and
scho
olin
gcan
belearn
edfrom
readin
gth
isbook.
vii
-powerful
Learning
Experiences
193
CH
Ap
TE
DW
HA
5M
ISS
ING
FRO
ME
AR
LY
CH
ILD
HO
OD
ED
UC
AT
ION
“10
INT
HE
UN
ITE
DST
AT
ES
Jdrefl
arein
gro
ups
allth
etim
ein
scho
ol
(or
head
Start
orchild
Cre
atin
gP
ow
erfu
lL
earn
ing
Yet
sch
oo
lsin
the
United
States
typically
focu
son
indiv
idu
al
eveIn
ent
and
what
stud
ents
carryaw
ayin
their
ow
nm
inds.
In-
Ex
perie
nces
inE
arlyC
hIld
h0
Od
itoften
seems
likem
any’A
merican
edu
cators
and
paren
tsw
ould
cribeth
eideal
teacher-ch
ildratio
as1:1.
‘Ilieassu
mp
tion
isth
at
rle
dge
isan
indiv
idual
attainm
ent.
‘IbisV
j(Wis
un
derstan
dab
le
thevalue
ofsch
ool
isty
pically
judg
edb
yw
hat
indiv
idual
stuL
esson
sfro
mG
ood
Teach
ing
dentslearn.
Moreo
ver
man
ysu
bseq
uen
tm
ileston
es,ran
gin
gfroni
ad
,‘.sSio
nto
selectiveed
ucatio
nal
pro
gram
sto
securin
gan
intern
ship
or
aJob,
arefocused
on
the
skillsan
dach
ievem
ents
of
ap
articular
per
Mara
Krechevsky,
Ben
Madell’
.J-Jw
ever,w
hiledesirable
attim
es,undue
em
phasis
onin
div
idu
al
tionand
performance
ignoresth
epoten
tialof
the
gro
up
asa
Tiziana
Filippini,
an
dH
oward
Gardnei:
ntextfor
learning.S
mall
groupsin
particu
larare
ideall)laces
for
y,w
herechildren
with
similar
interests
canw
ork
togeth
erand
sand
childrencan
listencarefully
toeach
oth
er.S
mall
groups
What
areth
eessential
com
ponen
tsof
pow
erfu
llearning
experster
complex
interactions,co
nstru
ctive
conflicts,
and
self-monitor-
inearly
child
hood
classroom
s?O
fco
urse
there
arebaseline
elemen
ing,e
ycatalyze
the
capacitiesto
listen,
collab
orate,
and
negotiate
and
com
pen
sation
),ongoin
gpro
fessional
dev
elopm
ent,
suffi
_____
ch
childis
recognizedby
othersin
the
gro
up
asbrin
gin
ga
distinctof
quality
:qualified
teachers
(securedth
rou
gh
adeq
uate
prep
ideas, allowing
forfreq
uen
tand
dynam
icco
mm
unicatio
n.
Over
time,
env
iron
men
t.In
our
view,
hig
h-q
uality
early
child
ho
od
educaO
eflat
said,not
allgroups
arelearn
ing
gro
up
s.A
sS
eidel(2001)
small
classsizes
and
teacher-ch
ildratios,
suita
ble
materials,
anda
ctiv
eand
way
ofth
inkin
g.
tailsfo
ur
additio
nal
features,
none
ofw
hich
have
beensu
ffic
iefl
notes,“Inschools
we
all—students,
teachers,
paren
ts,an
dstaff—
arein
preciated
inU
.S.culture:
(1)th
ecritical
imp
orta
nce
ofthe
“grotip
groupsand
our
successor
failureto
learnis
inextric
ably
bou
nd
toour
supportin
gchildren’s
and
adults’
learnin
g,
(2)
anapproach
toasseSs-
SUccessor
failureto
decip
her
how
tolearn
from
an
dw
ithothers.
men
tbased
Ofl
docu
men
ting
and
revisitin
gch
ildren
’sthin
iidThe
actofbeing
inthe
same
roo
mor
build
ing
does
not
initself
mak
e
learnin
g,
(3)a
focuso
ngen
erative
ideasth
at
arecen
tralto
oneornlorc
igro
up
alearning
group”(p.
314).T
heto
ol
of
docu
men
tation
—th
e
dom
ains
ofknow
ledge,an
d(4)
arich
enviro
nm
ent
that
pro
moW
51
t1ce
ofobserving,
recording,in
terpretin
g,
and
sharin
gth
ep
rocess
qu
iryan
dh
igh
-qu
alityw
ork
.an
Products
oflearning
inorder
toassess
and
deep
enlearning—
is
Inth
ischapter,
we
mak
eth
ecase
that
these
fourfeaturearC
c111ak
eyhan
dm
aidei
ofeffective
ind
ivid
ual
and
gro
up
learning.l)o
cu
cialfor
powerful
learnin
gfo
ryoung
child
ren.
First,
we
discussw
hat $tatio
nentails
tryingto
understan
dw
hen
and
how
learningtakes
often
missin
gin
earlych
ildhood
educatio
nin
the
United
Statesd
I-Puce
throughsystem
aticobserv
ation
and
analy
sisof
children’sw
ork,
what
canbe
gainedby
addressin
gth
esefeatu
res.T
henw
eshoW
Isatio
ns,
andstrategies
vianotes,
photo
grap
hs,
video,and
the
fourfeatu
resat
work
viaan
alyses
oftw
op
roto
typ
icalexam
P1
froø.J
fl
theU
nitedS
tates,assessm
entty
pically
focu
seson
evalu
ating
the
presch
ools
inR
eggi()E
milia,
Italy.In
conclu
sion,
we
introea
‘ng
asa
Product
(“What
didth
ech
ildren
learn?”),
rather
than
a
framew
ork
thro
ugh
wh
ichearly
child
ho
od
educatio
ncan
beauth
(“How
dothe
childrenlearn?”).
Am
ericans
haveen
orm
ous
quan
titative
measures
ofp
erform
ance,
and
areoften
susp
ically
evalu
ated.
hum
anobservation
and
interp
retation
.B
ut
do
cum
entatio
n
%n
g.
Making
learningvisible
inan
dou
tside
the
classroom
can
cline
that
oftenseparates
evalu
ating
learnin
gfro
mS
upportin
g
;°flStrate
asw
ellas
extendchildren’s
learnin
g.
‘4—
19
2
rich
I;
194Im
agesof
Possibility
andR
ecomm
endationsfor
theFu
reatigpow
erfulL
earningE
xperiences195
tu.e
\
Ih(.ft
die
man
spuiposes
and
wa
sto
dO
(UIfl(..flt
icarning•
.cur1
es(. linol
I(tO]
01m
ov
eflic
nt
inth
eU
nited
States
isto
focus
ing
learnin
gV
iSil)leth
rough
do
cum
entatio
ncan
bea
way
toceleb
counta
bY
on
outp
uts—
inparticu
lar,th
ereg
ular
dep
loym
ent
of
child
ren’s
com
peten
cies,aid
child
renand
adu
ltsin
their
refle
ctira
anda-ll
teststh
atm
easure
studen
tach
ievem
ent,
gen
erallyin
lit-
and
shap
efu
ture
con
texts
forlearn
ing,
l)ocu
men
tation
leadsteac’
acyand
math
.W
hile
federalstatu
tes(co
nsisten
tw
ithth
eco
unsel
toco
mpare
what
they
Iliotig
lilth
eyw
ould
ol)serveto
wh
atreallyh
fthe
Natio
nal
Asso
ciation
fortlie
Edu
cation
ofY
oungC
hild
ren)
do
pen
san
din
form
sd
eusio
ns
aboutsh
rto
gon
ext
this
Pro
cesa
‘0ot
requ
iftth
etestin
gof
child
ienu
ntil
Grade
3,early
elemen
tary
allow
sch
ildren
,teach
ers,and
often
tho
seo
utsid
eth
eclassroom
to:
deflts
andk
ind
ergartn
ersare
bein
gregularly
and
repeated
lytest-
understan
dbetter
the
learnin
gth
attakes
place.0
edacross
the
cou
ntry
.In
man
yschools,
suchtestin
ghas
narro
wed
l’hro
ugh
the
closelook
afford
edby
do
cum
entatio
n,
thein
tefle?
‘e
curricu
lum
and
ledto
the
reductio
nor
evenelim
inatio
nof
gro
up
tual
capab
ilitiesof
yo
un
gch
ildren
canbe
iden
tifiedand
nu
rtured
To.*
ork
and
long-term
pro
jects(l)arlin
g-llarn
mond
,2010).
Into
om
any
often,early
child
ho
od
classroom
slack
afocus
on
keyideas
andun
02t
earlych
ildhood
classroom
sthe
arts,block
play,an
do
ther
activities
derstan
din
gs
asw
ellas
learnin
gth
rough
play.W
ithout
alarger
roadrich
with
po
tential
forlearn
ing
arefo
rsaken
infavor
ofd
irectin
struc
map
foro
bserv
ing
child
renan
dreflectin
go
none’s
teachin
g,
teachers aon
ofacad
emic
skillsso
that
child
renw
illbe
“readyfor
the
tests”
fallb
ackon
basic
skills(co
untin
gto
10,recitin
gth
ealp
hab
et,idenU
Sh
ep
ard
,2000).
InN
ewY
orkC
ityan
dL
osA
ngelespub
licsch
oo
lskin
fyin
gco
lors)
inlieu
ofdeep
erunderstan
din
gs
orex
plo
ration
ofnuin.
ergartnersspend
more
time
prep
aring
fortests
than
learnin
gth
rou
gh
herco
ncep
ts,verbal
andw
rittenco
mm
unicatio
n,
orthe
visu
alarts
play(A
lliancefor
Child
hood,
2009).
Curricu
lum
goalsare
often
framed
tohav
ech
ildren
“become
fam
JliA
sreflected
inth
isvolum
e,th
eknow
ledgebase
ofearly
child
hoo
d
with
”sim
ple
factual
info
rmatio
nan
dacquirc
basicskills
(Massa
chu
ducatio
nis
widc,
rang
ing
from
neu
roscien
ceto
dev
elopm
ental
psy
settsD
epartm
ent
of
Educatio
n,
2003)w
itho
ut
embed
din
gthese
skills_iology
tocultural
anthropology.A
tthe
same
time,
thereis
much
to
ina
larger
social,in
tellectual,
orcu
ltural
con
text.
When
this
hap
pex
ibe
learnedfro
mg
oo
dteach
ing
.W
hile
exam
ples
ofhig
h-q
uality
teach
child
ien’sab
ilitiesan
dth
end
esue
or
willin
gness
toexplore,
t:-
LIng
existam
oundth
ew
orld
,an
especiallyvivid
exam
ple
atth
epresen
t
collab
orate,
and
creatego
un
recog
nized
.can
befo
und
inth
em
unicip
alin
fant-to
dd
lercen
tersan
dpre
Creatin
gpow
erfullearn
ing
experien
cesth
atb
uild
on
thecapa-
;choolsof
Reggio
Ernilia,
Italy(E
dwards,
Gan
din
i,&
Form
an,
1998).
hilities
of
young
child
rencan
alsobe
hin
dered
byth
ephysical
layoutE’i
..
systemof
33schools
isin
ternatio
nally
celebrated
asa
hub
ofin-
and
org
anizatio
nof
classroom
s.‘l’he
classroom
enviro
nm
entr:
jnovatio
n,
insp
iring
educato
rsth
roug
ho
ut
the
world
and
illum
inatin
g
and
com
municates
thc
teachers’values
and
app
roach
toteach
ing
and.w
hat
cxccllcncein
earlych
ildhood
cducatio
nlooks
likc2
learnin
g.
The
physical
setup
andquality
ofm
aterialscan
eitherm
o-T
heauthors
ofth
ischapter
arecolleagues
fromR
eggioE
milia
and
tivate
orin
hib
itlearning
andcuriosity.
Ordinary
materials
likepap
ojectZ
ero,a
researchgroup
atthe
1-larvardG
raduateS
choolof
Edu
rocks,or
glu
ecan
beco
me
extrao
rdin
arydep
endin
go
nhow
theyare
tion.F
orover
adecad
ew
ehave
beenco
llaboratin
gon
the
questio
n
disp
layed
orin
troduced
(Topal
&G
and
ini,
1999).P
redeterm
ined
ac-fhow
tocreate
pow
erful
learnin
gex
perien
cesfor
child
renan
dad
ults
tivities
do
no
tgive
child
ren(or
adults)
the
chan
ceto
pursueth
el1
fIn
classrooms
and
schools
(Project
Zero
&R
eggioC
hild
ren,
2001).B
e-
ow
nin
terestsor
enco
unter
the
unex
pected
.M
aterialspresen
tedfor
alow
we
presen
ttw
oex
amples
ofpow
erful
learnin
gex
perien
cesfro
m
specificpurp
ose
on
lym
aydisco
urag
echildren’s
exp
loratio
nand
theeggio
classrooms
ino
rder
toillu
stratehow
the
fou
rfeatu
resof
hig
h-
inven
tion
ofstories,
games,
orm
etaph
ors.
Even
inclassroom
sw
itha
Uality
earlych
ildh
oo
ded
ucatio
nm
entio
ned
abo
ve—
the
criticalim
wealth
of
materials
the
dailysch
edule
tend
sto
limit
time
eitherf0
,,
-POrtance
ofth
egro
up
forsu
pportin
gchildren’s
and
adults’
learnin
g,
open
exp
erimen
tation
oririo
refocused
explo
ration
inservice
ofdeep-
.an
approachto
assessmen
tl)ased
on
do
cum
entin
gan
drev
isiting
chil
eru
nd
erstand
ing
.:
dren’sth
ink
ing
andlearning,
afocus
on
gen
erative
ideasth
atare
cen
How
schools
and
classroom
sare
judged
isalso
an1m1)orta
nt
part-
lto
one
orm
ore
do
main
sof
knowledge,
and
arich
env
ironm
ent
olth
estory
ofearly
child
hood
educatio
nin
thc
Un
itedS
tatesL
valUthat
promnotcs
mnquiiy
and
hig
hqu
alityw
ork—
interactw
ithan
dre
tion
systems
canaftcct
tcachin
gpractm
ccposm
tivclyci
negativcly1flforcc
eachoth
rin
piacticc
We
followw
ithan
analy
sisof
eachin
qucstio
not
cvalu
ation
isesp
cually
pressin
gh
cau
seacco
un
tab
ilg
red
and
thcn
ofteisu
ggestio
ns
forhow
thcsc
elemcn
tsm
ight
be
often
shap
esth
eex
perien
cesch
ildren
hav
ein
school.
AsignatU
reevaluatecL
irns
assom
e.T
he
child
renb
egin
tosu
spect
the
selection
processis
not
fairan
dshare
their
susp
icion
with
their
teachers.
After
listenin
gcarefully
toth
ech
ildren
,th
eteach
erstry
toresp
ond
IIn
aw
ayth
atavoids
leadin
gto
ayes
orno
answer.
Teachers
preferto
letch
ildren
com
eto
their
ow
nansw
er;stu
dyin
gth
ed
ocu
men
tation
willhelp
them
determ
ine
wh
ichd
irection
will
beth
em
ost
gen
erative.
Sonia
asksth
ech
ildren
,“T
hisis
som
ethin
gyou
thin
k,
bu
tho
wyou
pro
ve
it?”S
heneg
otiates
with
the
child
rento
forma
small
Up
that
(1)is
mad
eup
ofch
ildren
wh
ovo
lunteer
orare
no
rni
:edby
friends,
(2)is
likelyto
work
well
tog
ether,
and
(3)rep
resents
j1e
rangeof
math
ematical
abilities
inth
eclass.
The
gro
up
meets
for
__
__
ewdays,
eachm
orn
ing
giv
ing
anu
pdate
on
itspro
gress
toth
e%
holegro
up.
At
first,th
esm
allgroup
discussesth
eeq
uity
ofC
oijiti.S
ome
thin
k
Every
daychildren
inth
e4-year-old
classrecite
the
countingrh31
flatsinceth
eco
unt
dependson
where
youstart
andyour
timing,
pen-
(orC
on
ta)“eenie,
meen
ie,m
iney,m
o”in
orderto
choose
two
waite]
plccan
cheat.
Oth
ersco
ntin
ue
toth
ink
Con
tois
fair.S
oniain
vites
the
forth
eday
wh
ow
illset
the
tablefor
lunch
and
perfo
rmoth
erduties
child
rento
focuson
find
ing
pro
of
bylooking
thro
ug
hth
ecalen
dar.
Thom
asnotes,
“I’mnot
inth
ecalen
dar.
Look
andsee.”
Carlo
says,A
tth
estart
of
the
scho
ol
year,ch
ildren
decid
eth
eco
untin
gb
isth
efairest
way
tom
ake
the
selection
(Photo
10.1).th
eretw
ice.”S
ome
inth
eg
roup
beg
inco
untin
gth
etu
rns
differ-
To
geth
erw
ithth
eteach
ers,S
oniaan
dl)eb
ora,
the
classagreeS
Qfltchild
renhav
eh
ad.
But
some
child
rendo
not
yet
hav
ea
firmsense
topost
photo
grap
hs
of
the
waiters
ona
calend
arto
keepa
recordof
flumber
and
the
separate
pagesfor
eachm
on
thm
akeco
un
ting
rlif
Over
time,
severalch
ildren
notice
that
certainclassm
atesare
seT
henum
ber
oftu
rns
need
sto
berep
resented
graphically.F
our
lectedm
ore
than
oth
ers.T
ho
mas
pro
teststh
athe
hasnot
had
asm
anY-
car-oldG
alaex
plain
s:‘I)o
you
knoww
hyw
edon’t
knowhow
man
y
(Ph
oto
10.2).ficult
forth
em.
196
PHO
TO
10.1.M
eeting
Images
ofP
ossibilityand
Recom
mendations
forthe
FU
ture
I
__
ting
Pow
erfulL
earningE
xperiences
10.2.L
ookingat
Waiter
Calendar
-—
197
F
PO
WE
RF
UL
LE
AR
NIN
GE
XPE
RIE
NC
ES:
TW
OE
XA
MPL
ES
Co
nsid
erth
efo
llow
ing
two
exam
ples
ofdocu
men
tation
fromthe
4-an
d5-year-old
classroom
sat
the
Diana
School
inR
eggioE
miliJfl
the
firstex
amp
lech
ildren
areco
ncern
edw
ithkeep
ing
trackofturflr
classroomjobs.
Inth
eseco
nd
exam
ple
the
traditio
nal
children’sac
ityof
dress-u
pis
transp
orted
into
the
world
ofco
mputer
technolog
Conta
198
PH
OT
O10.3
.M
akinga
Graph
-
0
_‘,‘.)
times
we
didit?
Because
ifyou
arenot
ableto
count
andyou
areon
differen
tpages
Ionth
ecalendar],
youcan’t
tell..
.W
ehave
tofind
aw
ayth
atis
readablefor
everybody.”L
isteningto
anaudio
recordingof
the
group’sconversation,
alongw
ithlo
okin
gat
their
notes,helps
Dehora
andS
oniadeterm
inedirectio
nth
eex
plo
ration
mig
ht
take,w
hat
materials
toprepare,
anç,w
hat
questio
ns
toask
that
will
informth
ew
orkan
dkeep
thegroup
Ofl.
track.l’hey
decideto
askth
echildren
ifthey
would
liketo
goto
thea
teller(art
studio)to
seeif
thereare
materials
that
mig
ht
suggesta
way
tosolve
the
problem.
The
teacherstry
tochoose
materials
that
can
revealw
hat
child
renare
thin
kin
g.
The
teachersprepare
small
photOgraphs
ofeach
child,slips
ofpaper
with
allthe
children’snam
es,and
small
and
bigpaper
with
and
with
ou
tgrids.
The
child
renaccept
the
offeran
dretu
rnto
the
classroomw
itha
largepiece
ofgrap
hpap
eran
dphoto
s,w
hich
they
placeon
thegrid
torep
resent
the
nu
mb
erof
turn
sof
eachw
aiter.A
licesuggests
aw
ayto
organizeth
ephoto
s:“I
wan
tto
put
allth
echildren’s
pictures,like
two
form
ean
dth
enI
do
n’t
know
..
.Imust
cou
nt
..
.“(P
ho
toio.3)
Alice’s
com
men
tallow
sG
aiato
organizech
ildren
tocarry
out
the
differenttasks
neededto
make
the
graph.O
verth
enext
fewdays,
the
small
groupexplores
differentw
aysto
make
the
datareadable
toall
(Photo10.4).
When
the
small
grouppresents
itsfindings
toth
eclass,
eachchild
imm
ediatelylooks
forhis
orher
OW
flpicture.
Gaia
explainsthe
graphto
thechildren,
inclu
din
gthe
processth
egroup
went
thro
ug
hto
crc-ate
theirdisplay.
Gala:
The
firstpic
ture
(at
the
botto
m)
islike
the
name.
All
theothers
arehow
many
turns.
But
there
isconfu
sion.
Wisdow
(toT
homas):
You
havea
pic
ture
soy
ou
hadone
turn
.G
ala:O
hno,
they
don’tunderstand!
(Photo
10.5).
Iflresponse,
Gala
findstw
ooth
erw
ays
todeliver
herex
plan
ation
be
fore
every
one
understan
ds.
This
experiencebuild
saw
are
ness
inthe
gro
up
that
what
iscle
ar
toyou
may
not
becle
ar
tooth
ers.
Images
ofP
ossibilityand
Recom
mendations
forthe
I. Cre
at
9P
owerful
Learning
Experiences
joTO
10.4.D
isplayingth
eD
ata
tI
Lii
199
.7
,—
-...
‘I•
I’—-
-
-—
I
200
I
Digital
Dress-U
p
Images
ofP
ossibilityand
Recom
mendations
forthe
Fut
PHO
TO
10.5.R
eadingthe
Data
Chart
F—
4t
-
,ting
Pow
erfulL
earningE
xperiences
TO
106•
Using
New
Skills
LI1
201
Observation.
Inthis
example,
we
beginto
seeth
efour
featuresof
i-qualityearly
educatio
nat
work.
Thom
as’sco
ncern
couldhave
nin
anyclassroom
inth
ew
orld.Issues
ofequity
and
fairnessare
;.H
ere,effective
useof
the
fouringredients
helpsteachers
re
)ndto
children’sconcerns
about
adaily
routin
ean
dtran
slateth
em
toa
powerful
learningexperience
that
involvesgenerative
ideas
conceptsof
equityan
dprobability),
thecreation
ofa
small
learn
Inggroup
asan
especiallyhelp
ful
contex
tfor
supportin
gchildren’s
inkin
g,
the
useof
docu
men
tation
toshape
learning,an
dth
ought
provokingm
aterials.L
isteningto
the
audio
tape
andlo
okin
gover
-r
notesgives
teachersth
eidea
ofoffering
arange
ofm
aterialsin
he
atelierto
supportthe
children’squest
tom
aketh
edata
understan
d
eto
themselves
and
toothers.
The
recordingalso
givesteachers
in-
‘Sightintoindividual
children’sco
ntrib
utio
ns
toth
egroup.
While
Gaia
clarifiesth
eneed
tocreate
agraphically
readablerep
resentatio
n,
she
;does
not
knowhow
togo
about
it.It
isA
licew
hohelps
heran
dth
e
OU
pfind
asy
stematic
way
toorg
anize
the
data
from
the
calendar.
Gaici
(toclassm
ates):T
heI)iC
tureat
the
botto
mis
toex
plain
who
you
arean
dth
eoth
ersare
how
man
ytim
esyou
havebeen
aw
aitress.W
isdow:
Iunderstan
dth
em
isunderstan
din
g.
It’sbecause
youhave
usedphoto
sfor
boththe
listof
kidsand
forth
er
ofturns.
Gala:
We
didit
that
way
becausenot
everyonecan
read
Once
the
natu
reof
the
gridis
clarified,G
aiaconcludes,
“T
LC
wita
isnot
fair.W
ehav
eto
findan
oth
erw
ay.”T
heclass
adoptsa
newselectio
nm
ethod,
prio
ritizing
thosew
ithth
efew
estturns
tobe
waiters.
The
nextyear,
the
same
groupof
children,now
5years
old,r’
itsth
eselectio
nprocess
and
their
earliergrid
and
choosesa
different
nw
thod
topick
the
day’sw
aiters.U
sing
their
newab
ilitiesto
icadan
dcount,
the
child
renorganize
a
chart
with
names
and
check
mark
sto
keeptrack
of
turn
s(P
hoto10.6).
Each
day
child
renneg
otiate
who
will
bew
aiter,m
akin
gsure
the
tuniS
areallo
catedfairly.
Teachers
atthe
Diana
School
oftenobserve
child
renat
play,re
cordingth
eirw
ordsand
gesturesan
dnotin
gth
eirfavorite
activities.
powerful
Learning
Experiences
203
__
4,F
orone
gro
up
of5-year-olds,
Yu-G
i-Oh!
(aJap
anese
tradin
gcard
gam
eflect
onh
ow
they
hav
ech
anged
sinceen
tering
school
atage
3.T
hew
here
characters
canbe
com
bin
edto
expan
dth
eirpow
ersusin
aachers
hy
po
thesize
that
com
pu
tersw
ould
bea
good
tool
tosu
pp
ort
“poly
merizatio
n”
card)is
hig
hly
engag
ing
(Photo
10.7).ju
ew
kindof
dress-upgam
e—w
here
bodies
canbe
enlarg
ed,
chan
ge
hape,beco
me
pow
erful
superh
eroes,
orm
erge
with
their
surro
un
d:s
.T
heteach
ersalso
observeth
atch
ildren
arevery
curio
us
abo
ut
LOWadults
useth
eco
mp
uter,
often
expressin
gth
edesire
tohave
arrn
.”T
heplay
beg
ins
with
Sim
ona
askinga
small
gro
up
ofch
ildren
,V
ouldyou
liketo
tryto
transfo
rmyourselves?”
Sim
ona,
the
school’satelie,’ista,
isnew
toteach
ing
and
eager,°
learnh
ow
best
tosu
pport
young
children’slearn
ing
.In
revieWi
docu
men
tation
with
her
colleagues,S
imona
notices
that
child
refl
fascinated
byth
eidea
oftran
sform
ation
inth
eY
u-Gi-O
h!play,
wil
Filip
po
explain
s,“is
ath
ing
inw
hich
youbeco
me
wh
atyou
W(
liketo
be.”W
hy
arech
ildren
socap
tivated
byth
ings
that
trans
them
selves?
The
teachers
specu
lateth
atp
erhap
sit
isbecau
sech
ildren
arealso
go
ing
thro
ugh
contin
uous
chan
ge
and
searchin
gfor
their
identitY.
Retain
ing
the
ideasof
transfo
rmatio
nan
dp
oly
merizatio
nas
gen
erative
ideas,S
isnonaw
on
ders
ifch
ildren
could
been
gag
edin
at’ex.
plo
ration
of
their
chan
gin
gid
entities.
Durin
gth
e5-year-O
ldS’fw
a
year
atsch
ool,
from
time
totim
eth
eteach
ersask
the
child
rentO
fC
PHO
TO
10.7.C
ardG
ames
•c%>
•—
-
._
_,_
-—
Filippo:Polynw
rizationis
aw
ayof
goin
gro
und
and
rou
nd
that
unites
two
monsters
into
one
reallystro
ng
monster.
Costa,,z,•
With
theco
mputer!
Mattia:
Let’s
take
pictu
resof
ourselvesan
dth
enlet’s
transform-
them
and
then
make
ourselvesspeak!
FilippoW
eco
uld
make
them
likein
acarto
on!
Sim
onain
vites
the
child
rento
takep
ho
tos
ofeach
oth
erand
:dOW
nloadth
emonto
theco
mputer.
The
transfo
rmatio
nbeg
ins
asS
OO
nas
the
child
renstart
totake
PL
Ctures;
man
ych
ildren
poseas
superh
eroes
forth
eirpo
rtraits(P
ho
to10.8).
ies andto
seetheir
ideasan
dth
eories
asprovisional.
Making
mistakes
cthangingcourse
areintegral
partsof
researchand
learning;it
isortant
toaccept
them
assuch
with
ou
tw
orryingab
out
them.
imona
bringstw
osm
allgroups
togetherto
compare
their
trans
ations.She
asksthe
childrenw
hatthey
mig
ht
dow
ithall
theform
ations(P
hoto10.11).
Back
intheir
small
groupF
ilippoand
Mattia
pickup
on
thesu
gtlO
flto
combine
powers.
The
two
boysexclaim
,“N
oww
ecould
QO
Ur
powers!
Yes!
Let’spolym
erizeourselves!
Ihave
the
power
of_lb
llity!
Ihave
the
power
ofall
thethings
I’vegot
on
me.
Lots
of4’
flds
andlots
ofheads!
Let’spu
tourselves
together!”‘P
1lippexplains,
“All
the
transfo
rmatio
ns
arereal.
It’sjust
that
in4Q
aUt
You
transformw
ithcom
puters,n
ot
bym
agic.”
Learning
isa
con
stant
processof
reflectionand
negotiatiOfl
Asthe
yeargoes
on,th
echildren
Continue
tobuild
onth
eirnew
child
renlearn
ingroups,
theyare
more
likelyto
shareth
eirdIS
C0,
fliatityw
ithP
hoto
shop.
They
useit
totell
stories,to
transform
Muttia:
At
the
beg
innin
gI
wan
tedto
transfo
rmin
toT
hen
Igot
the
ideaof
mak
ing
alot
ofhead
san
da
lot
Of
han
ds
..
.Ialso
have1,000
brains!Filippo:
There
arealso
1,000m
outh
s.T
hereforeyou
speakdlffe
ently.M
attia:D
oyou
knowhow
Idid
this?I
push
eda
butto
nan
d
oth
erone
inthe
mouse.
Then
Ipush
edit
overm
yface.
‘
Iclicked
againand
aface
came
out.
PHO
TO
10.9.U
singP
hotoshop
powerful
Learning
Experiences
205
0.i0
.M
ultipleB
odyParts
‘Ii
Working
insm
allgroups,
the
childrenm
anip
ulate
their
images
usin
gP
hoto
shop
(Photo
10.9).T
hech
ildren
tryth
ings
out,observe
the
effects,an
ddecid&
What
touse.
‘l’heyseem
tobe
playinga
collectivevideo
game—
onein
which
they
determ
ine
the
setting,th
echaracters,
the
plot,an
dthe,,fiflal
outco
me.
Filippo
discoversa
way
toclone
partsof
atree,
whic1bY
mistake,
heplaces
onhis
face.H
iserror
becomes
asource
ofa
new
power—
invisibility.M
attiauses
Filippo’sdiscovery
tornu1tiplY
parts
ofhis
body(P
hoto10.10).
p0:
We
couldcom
bineall
thepow
ers.‘“:
Tocom
bineth
epow
ersto
getalong
well.
fattia:
Yes,
let’spolym
erizeourselves!
powerful
Learning
Experiences
207
tl
1js
alack
ofin
tegratio
nof
the
fourkey
ingred
ients
ofpow
erful
child
hood
educatio
n.
We
addresseach
ofth
esein
turn
below.
--
and
Adults
Learn
ing
from
and
with
Each
Oth
er
to
enL
earnin
g
imag
esof
their
classroomin
imag
inativ
ew
ays,an
dto
sharem
emories:
they
would
liketo
hold
onto
evenafter
schoolis
over.
Observ
c,tjo,j
Again,
we
seethe
fourfeatures
of
hig
h-q
uality
earlyed
ucatio
nat
work.
Rather
than
dism
issing_or
evenbanning
fromS
chool—
the
Yu-G
i-Oh!
games
aspart
ofpop
cultu
rew
ithlittle
orno
relevan
ceto
the
classroom
,th
eD
ianateach
ersview
the
games
asan
opportu
nity
togain
deep
erunderstan
din
gof
child
renand
theircu
ltu
rean
dcreate
apow
erful
learnin
gex
perien
cefor
their
students.A
sin
Conta
,th
esm
allgro
ups
pro
vid
ea
vitalco
ntex
tfor
child
rento
share
and
buildon
eachother’s
ideas.R
eviewing
docu
men
tation
leadsto
explo
ring
the
gen
erative
ideasof
chan
ge
and
transfo
rmatio
nthrough
aco
mpellin
gm
odern
-day
tool—
the
com
puter.
KE
YiN
GR
ED
IEN
TS
OF
AL
EA
RN
ING
CO
MM
UN
ITY
While
we
haveseen
many
goodearly
child
hood
pro
gram
sin
the
Unit
edS
tatesw
ithhig
hly
skilledteach
ersan
dplen
tiful
resources,in
ourex
perien
ce,ex
amples
liketh
etw
ojust
describedare
rare.O
ne
reason
The
child
renin
Contmi
and
I)igitalI)rL’ss—
Ujen
counter
oth
erper—
ctives
asthey
work
togeth
erto
solvepro
blem
sand
buildunder
ndin
g.
Inarticu
lating
their
thin
kin
gto
onean
oth
er,th
eypro
vid
e
.vin
toth
eirlearn
ing
processesfor
eachoth
erand
theteacher.
ial1groups
areparticu
larlyhosp
itable
forco
llaborativ
elearn
ing.
In
ntathe
small
groupm
akesits
thin
kin
gvisible
inseveral
ways.
First,
.egroup
pro
vid
esco
ncrete
pro
of
forits
percep
tion
ofunfairn
ess.In
der
todo
this,
the
child
renw
ork
todevelop
anaccu
ratereco
rdof
thenum
ber
oftim
eseach
child
hasserved
asw
aiter.F
inally,th
egro
up
resents
itsfin
din
gs
ina
way
that
is“readable”
toth
erest
ofth
eclass,
ianyof
whom
do
not
yet
know
how
toco
unt.
Sm
allgro
ups
arem
ade
up
of
child
renw
ho
expressin
terestan
dcu
Iosity
inth
eto
pic
asw
ellas
child
renselected
byth
eteach
erbecau
se
of theusefu
lness
ofth
eirco
mpeten
cies(group
leadersh
ip,
know
ledge
ofP
hoto
shop,
facilityw
ithnum
bers
orlack
thereo
f).A
piv
otal
move
?m
ade
byteach
erS
oniais
inclu
din
gch
ildren
whose
math
abilitiesre
p
resentth
eran
ge
inth
eclassroom
,creatin
gan
awaren
essth
atcount
ingw
illnot
beth
eso
lutio
nfor
all.M
embers
oflearn
ing
gro
ups
are
,concern
ednot
just
with
their
ow
nunderstan
din
g,
but
alsow
ithth
e
understan
din
gof
oth
ers.T
hesm
allgro
up
sharesits
thin
kin
gw
ithth
e
classso
the
entire
gro
up
canarrive
atan
info
rmed
decisio
nth
atbe
longsto
every
one.
After
severalm
orn
ings
durin
gw
hich
the
child
renex
perim
ent
With
differen
tsystem
s,none
ofw
hich
quite
work,
Sonia
asksth
esm
all
groupif
they
know
why
they
hav
ebeen
unsu
ccessful.
Gaia’s
questio
n,
“Do
youknow
why
we
don’t
know
how
man
ytim
esw
edid
it?.
.
isa
turn
ing
poin
tlx
cause
sheunderstan
ds
the
need
torep
resent
data
thatw
illbe
convin
cing
toch
ildren
not
yetable
toco
unt.
The
teacher
Informs
the
gro
up
about
histo
gram
s(a
grap
hic
disp
layrep
resentin
g
thedistrib
utio
nof
data)an
dsuggests
the
possib
ilityof
draw
ing
lines.
Although
Sonia
realizesth
atonly
afew
child
renare
ready
tom
ake
meaningful
useof
the
materials,
sheknow
sfro
mpast
experien
ceth
at
thosechildren
will
shareth
eirknow
ledge
with
their
friends.
Not
allof
the
child
ren’s
ideasare
accepted
byth
egro
up,
but
the
gro
u1)
isco
mfo
rtable
with
the
need
togive
and
receivefeedback.
Self-
andP
eer-assessmen
t—rev
isiting
and
critiquin
gw
ork—are
seenas
inte
gralto
the
learnin
gprocess.
Reggio
teachers
posequestio
ns
andoffer
206
PHO
TO
10.11.C
hildrenR
eviewing
theP
hotos
Images
ofP
ossibilityand
Recom
mendation
for
--
-‘:,‘#!5’
Ongoin
gD
ocum
enta
tion
for
Shap
ing
and
Exten
din
gL
earn
Because
the
l)iana
School
ott’Iieristo
isnew
toteach
ing
younchil.
dren
,her
colleag
ues
suggestth
atshe
spen
dtim
eobserv
ing
anddocu
men
ting
child
ren’s
“cultu
re”in
ord
erto
update
the
oth
erte
ach;:
-
the
kin
ds
of
words,
images,
gestures,and
oth
erm
odes
ofex
pres
she
disco
vers.
Digital
Dress-U
pbeco
mes
part
of
ayearlo
ng
refi::,
pro
jecton
the
past
3years.
Child
renreview
work
fromprevious
yearsto
iden
tifypro
ducts
that
showhow
theyhav
egrow
nor
what
theyhave
learned.S
ome
childrenchoose
problems
that
havebeen
difficultto)
solve,oth
erschoose
drawings
they
hadnot
been
ableto
doprevi.
:fously.
Looking
atthese
pro
ducts
enableseach
childto
revisitw
hatit
fm
eansto
bea
learnerand
groundsth
eabstract
processof
reflectionin
som
ethin
gco
ncrete
andm
eaningful.R
eggioteach
ersm
eetreg
ularly
toreview
docu
men
tation
ofcliii-
dren’slearn
ing
inord
erto
share
persp
ectives,
iden
tifyconnectlO
togenerative
ideas,and
plan
nex
tsteps.
Sandra
Piccinini,
the
form
er
com
missio
ner
of
educatio
nan
dcu
lture
forth
eR
eggioschools,
ob
serves:“O
ne
ofth
em
ostco
mm
on
misin
terpretatio
ns
isto
underS
ta1i
docu
men
tation
asa
strategy
toteach
better
what
we
asteachers
alread
yknow
.In
stead,
docu
men
tation
need
sto
bea
way
toget
tokfl0
W?
better
what
the
children,in
their
own
way,
alreadyknow
”(qu0t’
inT
urn
er&
Wilson,
2010,p.S
).T
hem
ethods
usedby
the
child
ren1!’
Conti
challen
ge
andex
pan
dteachers’
understan
din
gof
4yearO1dS
frcapabilities.
Docu
men
tation
isuseful
asa
record
or“m
emory
”for
adults
asw
el
1as
child
ren.
‘i’apingchildren’s
conversationsprovides
teachersw
itha
record
that
canbe
reviewed
with
colleagues.T
eacherslisten
not
onlYfor
child
ren’s
understan
din
gof
ideas,but
alsofor
thew
ayth
egrouP
ygen
eiclt’’w
em
eanideas
and
ways
ofth
inkin
gth
atfacilitate
Ingdcrsta
ndin
g5
afterless
significan
tco
ncep
tsan
dfacts
arefo
r
ten.G
enera
tiideas
can1clU
dCsuch
diverseco
ncep
tsas
“Science
processof
nstru
ctin
gan
dtestin
gtheories,”
“allm
easurem
ent
]jcom
pariso
fl,”“m
embers
ofa
groupcan
havea
sayin
the
rulesth
at
vern
them,”
or“ideas
and
feelingscan
beco
mm
unicated
thro
ugh
rentsym
bolsystem
s(draw
ing,num
bers,P
hotoShoP
images).”
ative
ideascan
betau
ght
ina
varietyof
ways
and
carryth
rough
gradelevels.
ReggiO
teacherslook
not
onlyfor
skillslike
the
-yto
count
to10,
but
alsofor
children’sunderstan
din
gof
what
um
bers
arefor.
1-lowdoes
the
num
ber
ofapples
differfrom
thead
dre
ss
ona
house?H
owdoes
the
length
ofa
tablediffer
from
adate
ona
calendar?T
eachersdevote
agreat
dealof
time
toth
inkin
gabout
eaningfulcontexts
soth
atch
ildren
will
understan
dnum
bersas
a
•tural
conven
tion
that
canserve
differentpurposes.
Generative
ideasare
not
always
obviousto
teachers.E
arlych
ild
;hoodteachers
oftenengage
their
studen
tsin
“funactivities,”
but
these
donot
necessarilypro
mote
foundatio
nal
knowledge
ornderstafld
iflg
inyoung
children.W
hen
teachersdevelop
their
own
understan
din
gof
generativeideas
orw
aysof
thin
kin
g_W
het1
thro
ugh
conver
lafions
with
colleagues,reflecting
onthe
aims
oftheir
work,
orad
ditionalstudy
ofsubject
atte
rthey
canset
activitygoals,
choosem
aterials,and
interact
with
child
renm
oreflexibly
and
inw
aysth
atfacilitate
learning.T
hisaw
arenessalso
alertsteachers
tosp
ontan
eous
mom
entsth
atcan
enhan
cechildren’s
nderstafld
iflg,
evenif
theyare
Outside
theplan
ned
curriculum.
-W
eget
asense
ofgenerative
ideasfro
mth
etw
oexam
plesw
ehave
Provided.
InC
ooto,
child
rendev
elop
asense
ofpro
bab
ilitY_ex
Pb0
Ingth
elik
elihood
ofa
childgettin
gch
osen
asw
aiterbased
onth
ecurrent
rneth
od
equity
_deter1
11in
i1g
wheth
erth
ecu
rrent
meth
od
209ow
erfulL
earningE
xperiences208
Images
ofP
ossibilityand
Recom
mendations
forjg
1’suggestions
like,“W
hatw
asyour
lastdisco
very
Playing
with
th-s
andch
ildren
particip
ate.T
hiskin
dof
documentatiO
1helps
tal)le(or
sand
box,
orblocks)?
What
ideasdo
YOUhave
abou
1,,,
t-
t1at
“iiochild
isleft
beh
ind.”
Looking
backin
ord
erto
move
“Last
time
you
drew
abike.
Would
youlike
totry
tom
akea
dalso
characterizest1e
teaclers’in
teractions
with
childrenlfl
-oom.
Everym
orn
ing
child
renshare
not
onlyth
eoutcom
eclay
today?”A
tso
me
J)Oiflt,
the
teacherm
ayask,
“What
lS4he
d1t
reviO
ISday’s
work,
but
alsothe
processthey
wen
tth
rough
ferencebetw
eendraw
inga
bikeand
making
itin
clay?Jid
wat
ieir
ear1
g.
The
teachers
inC
oiitaask
the
small
gro
up
toch
oose
easier?W
hich
do
you
likem
ore?”B
eforech
ildren
playin
explo
rea
topic,
teachers
som
etimes
ask,“W
hat
doth
area
came
upw
itha
newdiscovery.”
They
usew
ordslike
tiieo,y
WIf
Yu
in
orderto
hell)th
egro
up
mnaintaifl
focusan
dbuild
awareness
offind
out?
At
the
end
ofth
em
orn
ing,
come
andlet
me
ou
ls
andm
aterialsfrom
the
daybefore
that
havebeenes
1jecia
llyuse
discgi,1IO
theylearn.
and
ro’seaivlith
athelp
tom
ake
thin
kin
gvisible
and
model
theI”:—
process.In
additio
n,
rather
than
respondin
gto
children’sque
--•n
Gen
erative
Ideas
That
Are
Cen
tralto
Dom
ains
ofdirectly
,teach
ersfreq
uen
tlyrefer
child
rento
eachoth
erso
that
;wledge
dren
seeth
emselv
esas
resourcesof
know
ledge.
•HI
•gpow
erfulL
earningE
xperiences211
210Im
agesof
Possibility
andR
ecomm
endationsfor
theF
u.e
isfair
toevery
mem
ber
ofth
egro
up
and
what
Should
be‘a—
isn’t;
and
the
disp
ositio
nto
seekev
iden
cefor
claims.
Digital
touch
eson
dev
elopin
gan
dex
perim
entin
gw
itha
perso
nal
alone
aridw
ithoth
ersan
dth
epoten
tialof
com
puters
forim
ages
and
transfo
rmin
greality.
The
pro
jectis
playful,yet
fo5
onex
plo
ring
and
com
municatin
gideas
atthe
intersectio
nofthe
and
the
imaginary.
Afocus
ongenerative
ideasw
ithyoung
childrenm
aybe
‘•—
ingto
some.
Yet
children’sen
gag
emen
tin
Canto
andD
igitalD
res:offers
evidenceth
atyoung
child
rencan
pursuethese
topicsw
ithli
lectualin
tegrity
(Bruner,
1960).R
ecognizingth
ecapabilities
ofych
ildren
isnot
anin
vitatio
nto
pushth
eelem
entary
schoolcurrict
dow
nto
preschool.E
xploringgenerative
ideastakes
placenotth
rtran
smissio
nfrom
teacherto
studen
t,but
thro
ugh
aninteractjv
tergen
erational
Process
whereby
child
renan
dadults
learnfrom
andw
ithone
anoth
er.R
atherth
anfollow
inga
setcurriculum
,teachers
InR
eggioexplore
generativeideas
byprep
aring
stimulating
context.inj
which
child
rencan
developan
dtest
strategies,revealing
both
comr
tencies
and
misco
ncep
tions
tobe
addressed.
AR
ichE
nviro
nm
ent
That
Pro
motes
Inquiry
and
High-Q
uality.
WorkT
hesuccess
ofa
learnin
gco
mm
unity
isco
ntin
gen
ton
teach.
ersbein
gable
toharn
esschildren’s
desireto
learn.A
sform
ulatedby
(Zsikszentm
ihalyi(1990),
“The
chief
imped
imen
tsto
learnin
gare
notco
gnitiv
e.It
isnot
that
studen
tscan
not
learn;it
isth
atth
eydo
not w
ishto.
ifed
ucato
rsin
vested
afractio
nof
the
energyth
eynow
spendon
trying
totran
smit
information
ontrying
tostim
ulatethe
students’enjoy-
men
tof
learning,w
ecould
achievem
uch
betterresults”
(p.115).
The.
physicalen
viro
nm
ent
andflexibility
ofth
eclassroom
scheduleplay
acentral
rolein
engagingindividuals
andth
egroup
inlearning
with
joy.C
lassrooms
inR
eggioE
rniliaare
setup
inaccordance
with
the
1teachers’
images
ofthe
childan
dsense
ofchildren’s
capabilities. ‘1ers
areco
nstan
tlyponderin
ghow
child
renlearn;
theyare
Fto
besurprised.
Areas
andm
aterialsare
designedand
presentedw
ithan
eyetow
ardinspiring
creativity,facilitating
explorationand
con
nectio
ns,
and
engagingch
ildren
inth
inkin
gabout
bigideas.
TeaC
h5
providem
ediaso
that
child
rencan
thin
kand
expressideas
inU
ltiple
symbol
systems.
InC
ontathe
small
xeroxedphoto
grap
hs
ofthe
children’sfaces
arean
appealingw
ayto
recordthe
children’sturfl5
waiter.
Organizational
schemas
likea
calendarare
alsoavailable
aflU
suggestiveof
ways
torecord
info
rmatio
n.
When
theseparate
pages0
‘lcale
ndat
make
countin
gproblem
aticthe
teacherasks
the
group
wan
tto
visitth
eatelk’i
(artstu
dio
)to
seew
hat
oth
ershapes,
andtypes
ofpap
erth
eym
ightuse.
Teachers
carefullYco
nsid
er
quality,an
davailabilitY
ofth
esem
aterials.T
he
choice
of
erentpaper,
colo
redpencils,
and
oth
erhig
hqU
aIitYart
materials
ctsvalues
ofbeau
tyan
dhigh
standard
s.
rs
areco
ntin
uallY
aware
ofjn
troducin
gvariatio
nto
en
gagech
ildren
tobuild
and
expressnow
1ed
ge
indifferen
tm
edia.
yw
antto
mak
esure
that
child
renhave
the
oppO
rtuflitt0
revisit
reviseth
eirw
ork
alone
and
ina
gro
up
toco
mpare
where
they
ed
andw
hereth
eyended
up,and
tom
akeco
nnectio
ns
that
will
penth
eirdersta
1ng.
Tim
eis
neith
erru
shed
nor
fragm
ented
.
ehild
rein
Canto
dev
ote
severalm
orn
ings
toso
lvin
gth
ew
aiter
oblem.
The
follo
win
gyear,
these
same
child
ren(flow
ayear
older)
-greater
reading,w
riting,and
countin
gskills
soth
eycan
modify
systemfor
choosinga
waiter.
InL)igitfll
Dress-U
Pch
ildren
learn
chab
out
PhotoS
hOP
soth
atth
enex
ttim
eth
eyw
ant
toen
large
changeth
esh
ape
ofan
image,
they
request
that
tool
inparticu
lar.
rtim
e,th
eydev
elop
anaw
arenessof
which
materials
and
tools
ng,clay,
PhotoS
hOP
)are
most
suitab
lefor
expressin
gor
com
mU
gan
idea.
EV
AL
UA
TIO
NO
FT
HE
LE
AR
NIN
GC
OM
MU
NIT
Y
ew
ould
you
look
and
what
would
you
look
forw
hen
visitin
ga
reschoo1
classroom
todeterm
ine
itseffectiv
eness
asan
educatio
nal
inviro
nrn
efltth
atsu
pports
child
ren’s
learnin
g?
Certain
ly,
the
four
gre
die
nts
on
which
we
hav
efo
cused
arepresen
tto
som
eex
tent
in
ftostearly
child
hood
settings.
Inalm
ost
everypresch
ool
classroom
,
rnereare
opportu
nities
forch
ildren
tolearn
from
and
with
one
an
otheran
dfor
teachers
toreco
rdobserv
ations
ofch
ildren
,id
entify
topics
toex
plo
rem
ore
deeply,an
dgive
thought
toth
ech
oice
ofm
a
terials.T
he
questio
nis
one
ofdegree
and
effectiven
ess.H
owdo
we
:.determine
wheth
erth
ereare
sufficien
tquan
titiesof
eachin
gred
ient
toC
reatepow
erful
learnin
gex
perien
cesan
dsu
pport
child
ren’s
learn
ingeffectively?W
hileparen
ts,educators,
and
policy
mak
ersw
illap
pro
achth
is
questionin
differen
tw
ays,all
canbe
info
rmed
byth
efollow
ing
“oughtexperim
ent.Im
agineyou
arean
insp
ector
chargedw
ithth
e
esponsibilityof
evaluatingearly
child
hood
settings.Y
ouare
acritical
lend,help
ing
schoolsand
teachersim
prove,but
youare
alsoulti
mately
responsiblefor
ensuringth
atall
child
renare
providedw
ithth
e
212
best
possib
lelearn
ing
enviro
nm
ent.
We
envisionth
e1flsp
ector
cing
data
from
avariety
ofco
ntex
tsw
itha
focuson
the
fourdeC
ofpow
erful
learnin
gex
perien
ces:
•A
teacher-facilitated
convers
atio
n(w
hole
orS
mall
group)•
Ach
ild-d
irectedexploration
(inth
eblock
area,dran
aticor
water
table)
Pay,
-
•A
structu
red,
small-g
roup
taskin
troduced
byth
ein
sl)e
O•
An
observ
ation
of
theclassroom
enviro
nm
ent
•A
nin
terview
with
the
teacher(s)
Each
contex
tco
uld
bevid
eotap
edfor
reviewby
the
inspectora.
orteach
er(see
alsoI<ane
&C
antrell,
2010).A
lthough
the
indicatørw
ould
vary
dep
endin
gon
the
time
ofyear,
ageof
the
chuldreir,p:ij
tiesof
the
school
system,
and
teacher’sgoals,
we
suggestaddressj
certainco
nsid
erations,
listedbelo
wfor
eachC
ontext.
The
Teach
er-Facilitated
Conversatio
n(W
hole
or
Sm
allG
roup)i:
•W
ho
isdoin
gth
etalking?
The
teacher?
Afew
child
ren?
How
does
the
teacher
facilitateth
eco
nversatio
n?
For
example,
does
she
referch
ildren
tooth
erch
ildren
?•
Isth
isa
connected
conversatio
ji?A
restatem
ents
linkedto
prev
ious
ones
and
doideas
build
offone
anoth
er?D
och
ildren
and
adults
listento
eachoth
er?•
What
isth
epurp
ose
ofth
eco
nversatio
n?
l)oes
the
conversa
tion
involv
egen
erative
ideas?Is
itto
share
what
child
renalread
yknow
orbuild
new
knowledge?
What
isth
equality
of
child
ren’s
languag
e?A
reth
ew
ordsrich
and
expressive?H
owdo
child
renstru
cture
their
senten
ces?1)o
their
statemen
tsre
feronly
toth
emselv
esor
areth
eym
ore
deco
ntex
tualized
?.
•l)o
child
renhelp
eachoth
erby
pro
vid
ing
critique
orex
plain
ing
ideasto
eachoth
er?H
owdo
they
han
dle
conflict?A
re
child
renen
gag
ed?
l)oth
eyuse
alan
guag
eof
thin
kin
gan
d
emotio
n,
forex
ample,
emplo
yin
gw
ordslike
idei,tIieo
rW
0fl
ck’i;in
spire,
agree,and
disa’,ee?Is
there
laughter
andexpres—
SIO
HS
of
excitem
ent
andjoy?
The
Child
-Directed
Explo
ration
(inth
eB
lockA
rea,D
ramatic
Play,
or
Water
Tab
le)
•W
hat
isth
equality
ofth
eex
plo
ration?
Giv
enth
echildren’S
agesan
dex
perien
ces,is
the
useof
blocks,th
ew
atertable,
or
213
playscenarios
sophisticatedan
dco
mplex
orm
orelim
ited?
Are
thech
ildren
open
tom
ultiplesolutions?
What
isth
equality
ofth
echildren’s
interactions?I)o
they
shareideas
with
one
anoth
er?l)o
they
havea
sharedgoal?
How
doth
eyoffer
and
receivecritiq
ue?
How
doth
eysolve
pro
blem
san
ddeal
with
conflict?
What
isth
erole
ofth
eteach
er?W
hen
doesshe
stepin
or
stepout?
How
doesth
eteach
erresp
ond
toch
ildren
’sideas
andquestio
ns?
How
doeSshe
dealw
ithconflict
and
issuesof
sharin
g,
equity,or
hurt
feelings?
Stru
ctured
Sm
all-Gro
up
Task
Intro
duced
byth
eIn
specto
r
The
insp
ector
givesa
gro
up
ofchildren
anunfam
iliar,but
dev
el
3mentally
appro
priate
task.For
example,
the
insp
ector
mig
ht
ask
hlldrento
preten
dth
ata
new
studen
tw
illbe
joiningth
eirclass
ina
fewdays
and
wan
tsto
understan
dth
edaily
sched
ule
befo
rehe
arrives.
What
isth
ebest
way
tolet
him
know?
The
insp
ector
notes:
•H
owdo
the
child
rendiscuss
the
pro
blem
?1)0
they
listento
eachoth
er?B
uildon
eachother’s
ideas?A
ccessoth
erreso
urc
es(ad
ults
orch
ildren
)th
atcan
help
?
•I-low
doth
ech
ildren
dev
elop
and
carryout
the
plan
?D
o
they
thin
kto
put
som
ethin
gon
paper?D
oth
eydraw
pictu
res
orw
ritew
ords?D
oesth
enotatio
nco
mm
unicate
relevan
tin
form
ation?
eC
lassroom
Observ
ation
Here
we
recom
men
dth
atboth
teacher
and
insp
ector
fillout
ash
ort
rubricor
checklistevaluating
thefour
ingredientsof
apow
erfullearning
C0m
munty
the
presenceof
collaborativelearning,
ongoingdocu
men
tation,generative
ideas,and
arich
enviro
nm
ent.
Forexam
ple,is
there
evidenceth
atteachers
aredocu
men
ting
children’slearning
processes
orSharing
docu
men
tation
backw
ithstudents?
What
kindsan
dquality
ofm
aterialsare
availableand
howdo
childreninteract
with
them
?A
re
thereblocks
ofunin
terrupted
time?
Each
element
israted
ona
scale
from“not
apparent”to
“presentw
ithstrong
supportingevidence.”
The
Teach
erIn
terview
Videotapes
ofth
eteach
er-facilitatedco
nversatio
n,
the
child
-di
rectedex
plo
ration,
and
structu
redtask
along
with
the
classroom
oh-
Images
ofP
ossibilityand
Reco
mm
endatio
n5
forthe
atifl9P
owerful
Learning
Experiences
I
214Im
agesof
Possibility
and
Reco
mm
en
datO
fl5f
servatio
nchecklist
formth
ebasis
forth
ein
terview
.F
or
insp
ector
might
share
the
vid
eotap
esof
the
teach
er_
led
C0flV
andchild—
directedex
plo
ration
and
ask:
What
areth
ecentral
ideasor
hab
itsof
min
dY
ouch
ildren
would
learn?W
hat
do
youth
inkth
chW
erh
op
jg
learn?how
(l()‘m
ik
J)v?
i1d
r
•W
hat
might
you
donex
tto
deep
ench
ildre
n’s
leaviduallv
orcollectively?
•W
hatm
ightyou
doin
2w
eeksto
make
sure
the
learnco
uld
beex
tended
tooth
ercontexts?
(on
sidera
tion
ofth
efo
ur
ingred
ients
inth
eseco
nte
xts
caninf
ho
wp
arents,
educato
rs,an
dpolicy
mak
ersevalu
ate
the
ed
uc
vib
rancy
ofan
earlych
ildh
oo
dclassro
om
.F
orex
am
ple
,l)aren
tlook
ingfor
the
bested
ucatio
nal
setting
forth
eirchild
ren
mig
ht
observ
inth
eb
lock
areaor
aw
ho
le-gro
up
meetin
g.
Du
ring
aing,
paren
tsco
uld
lookfor
wh
ether
the
teacher
or
ch
ildre
nare
doing‘
the
hulk
of
the
talkin
g,
the
num
ber
of
child
renpartic
ipatin
g,
whether
com
men
tsbuild
offeach
oth
er,an
dco
nn
ection
sto
generativeideas.‘U
he“teach
erin
terview
”questio
ns
could
heused
forconversa
with
teachers
orad
min
istrators.
For
adm
inistrato
rsand
teachers,
this
appro
achsu
ggests
apossible
system
of
sup
ervisio
n.
For
exam
ple,
school
orcente
rdirectors
couldsu
pport
teachers’
pro
fession
algro
wth
byhav
ing
con
versatio
ns
-
on
vid
eotap
esfro
mw
hole-class
meetin
gs
orch
ild—
ledex
p1
ora
areaslike
blocksor
dram
aticplay.
The
co
nv
ersa
tion
sw
ou
ldrese
asu
pportiv
esu
perv
isory
meetin
g,
with
both
teach
ers
and
admilL
t()rsm
akingobserv
ations
and
askin
gas
well
asan
swerin
gq
ues
Actual
footag
eof
child
renat
work
and
playw
ould
pro
vid
ea
and
um
ned
iatedreferen
cepoin
tfor
con
versatio
ns
about
indivLch
ildren
,in
teractions
betw
eench
ildren
,explo
ratio
nof
general
ideas,an
dn
ext
stepsfor
learnin
g.
Teachers
and
dire
cto
rsm
ight
com
plete
and
share
classroom
observ
ation
check
listsin
orderto
COfl1
parel)ersl)ectives
on
strength
san
dw
eaknesses.F
orpolicy
makers,
itis
no
tan
easym
atterto
cra
ftan
effeCfive
eval
uatio
nsy
stemin
anatio
nw
itha
staggerin
gran
ge
of
classroo
mpopU
lations
with
regard
toso
cioeco
no
mic
back
gro
und,
cultu
ral
and
eth
diversity,l)ro
ficiency
inE
nglish,an
dprev
ious
ex
perie
nce
instru
ct
groups(see
I<ane&
Can
trell,2010).
At
the
same
time,
policYI1
ershave
aspecial
responsibilityto
evaluateearly
child
hood5m
gs;
the
decisio
ns
they
make
sign
ificantly
affectteach
ers’b
ehav
iot
Wh’
testsfocus
ondiscrete
preread
ing
skills,teach
ersw
orry
about
sma
powerful
Learning
Experiences
215
jm
easurab
leliteracy
outcomes.
Direct
instru
ction
ofth
ese
increases,ofteii
atth
eex
pen
seof
powerful
learnin
gO
pportuni—
‘lock
Sdisappear,
dram
aticplay
iscu
rtailed,
and
teachers
feelth
ey
1t1nak
eth
etim
eto
followch
ildren
’sin
terests(like
exp
lorin
gth
e
LeSSof
org
anizin
gclassro
om
jobs).Ironically,
this
shift
inem
pha
:s
children’so
pp
ortu
nities
toex
plo
relanguage
and
in-
-p
rint
and
oth
ersym
l)Ol
systems
inm
oreau
then
ticw
ays.
tho
ug
ht
exp
erimen
tsuggests
anev
aluativ
efram
ewo
rkth
at
lddirect
teachers’an
dothers’
attentio
nto
ward
creating
pow
erful
ingexperiences.
While
one—tim
eo
bserv
ations
havelim
itations,
eco
nfid
ent
the
indicato
rsw
edescrib
ecan
no
the
faked.If
acorn
whole—
gr0pco
nv
ersation
isobserved,
itis
becausech
ildren
iadex
perien
ceparticip
ating
insu
chco
nversatio
ns.
Neith
ercan
faketh
oughtfu
lin
terview
sab
ou
tth
eirteach
ing
and
ch
il
arnin
g.
Inorder
toprep
arefor
such
discussions,teach
ersneed
--
:tregularly
onth
eirpractice,
sup
po
rtedby
do
cum
entatio
n.
If
ucbinterview
sare
part
ofan
evalu
ation
system,
adm
inistrato
rsw
ill
havea
strong
incen
tive
toin
clud
eth
isty
pe
ofreflectio
nas
part
of
hers’
pro
fessional
dev
elopm
ent.
Wh
atis
criticalat
the
ou
tsetis
not wheth
erschools
orcen
tersscore
well
on
specificin
dicato
rs,b
ut
her
that
their
consid
eration
open
sup
essential
con
versatio
ns
about
pportingchildren’s
learnin
gin
pow
erful
and
com
pellin
gw
ays.O
ur
hopeis
that
teachers
will
leaveth
eseco
nv
ersations
energ
ized,
hav
ing
rned
som
ethin
gth
atw
illsu
ppo
rtth
eirpractice.
PO
WE
RF
UL
LE
AR
NIN
GE
XPE
RIE
NC
ES
FOR
AL
L
arlych
ildhood
isthe
beg
innin
gof
form
allearn
ing
ingroups
form
ost
merican
child
ren.
The
percen
tage
of3-
and
4-year-oldsin
groupse
t
iflgs(H
eadS
tart,fam
ilych
ildcare,
com
munity
child
care,an
dpu
blic
andprivate
presch
ool)
has
nearly
do
ub
ledii]
thepast
20years
from40
078%
(Barnett,
Husted
t,F
riedm
an,
Boyd,
&A
insw
orth
,2007).
With
yed
ucatio
nnow
emb
racedby
po
liticians,
busin
essleaders,
and
‘1military
officialsas
anim
portan
tp
artof
the
natio
nal
strategy
to
parech
ildren
forth
ech
allenges
ofth
e21st
centu
ry(M
ission:R
ead
SS,2009),th
enum
ber
ofch
ildren
ingro
up
setting
sis
likelyto
grow.
This
stateof
affairsadds
urg
ency
toth
eq
uestio
ns,
“What
shou
ld
-Yclassroom
learnin
gex
perien
cesinvolve?”
and
“How
sho
uld
these
arningex
perien
cesbe
evalu
ated?”
As
we
deb
ateth
en
ature
ofq
uality
--i’ch
ildhood
educatio
n,
the
work
ofteach
erslike
Sonia,
l)ebo
ra,,n
iona,
and
their
colleaguesin
Reggio
Em
iliaserves
asa
guide.A
tten
flto
the
group,docu
men
tation,
gen
erative
ideas,an
dth
een
viro
n-
‘:1
216
NO
TE
S
RE
FER
EN
CE
S
217pow
erfulL
earningE
xperiences
i;&
Cantrell,
S.(2010).
I.c’arnlag
aboutteaching:
Initialndin
gs
twill
nlL
O’S
ofe(’cti1’L’
teachingprolt’ct.
Seattle,W
A:
Bill
&M
elinda
Gates
o0ndati0
’ach
usC
tt5l)ep
artlflent
ofE
ducation.(2003,
August).
MassachU
settsstate
socialsudieS
curriculumfram
eworks.
Retrieved
from:
http
//WV
V.d
0e
Ion:R
eadiness__Military
leaders
forK
ids.(2009).
Ready,
willing,
andunab
leto
serve.R
etrievedfrom
tp//c
dn.m
is5i0
flreadi5
5.0
r/
NA
ThE
I109.pdf
ectZ
ero&
Reggio
C :hildren.(2001).
Making
learningvisible:
Children
as
j0jividl111lnicl groilJ)
learneis.R
eggiOE
milia:
Reggio
Child
ren.
1,S.
(2001).lii
bepart
ofso
meth
ing
biggerth
anoneself.
InP
rolectZ
ero
&R
eggiOC
hild
ren,
Making
learningvisible:
Clilidreti
tiSiiidiV
idlUll
thU
1gro
up
leanlers(pp.
312—321).
Reggio
Em
ilia:R
eggioC
hild
ren.
_epardI.
(2000).T
herole
ofassessm
entin
alearn
ing
culture.E
ducational
Researci1”
29(7):4—
14.
al, C. W
.,&
Gandini,
L.(1999).
13c’autiful stuff’L
earningw
ithf’oinid
materials.
New
York:
Sterling.
T.,&
Wilson,
1).(2010).
Reflections
ondocu
men
tation:
Adiscussion
with
thought
leadersfrom
Reggio
Em
ilia.T
heoryInto
PractiCe,
49(1),8.
9Im
agesof
Possibility
andR
ecom
men
datio
5f0
them
ent
canhelp
pro
vid
eth
elearn
ing
experien
cesall
child
reand
enlig
hte
ned
appro
aches
toassessm
ent
canm
ake
thisle
il)Ieto
all.
We
aregrateful
to1)iana
School
educato
rsS
oniaC
ipolla,D
eborai
Sin
wna
Spagiarri
forth
eclassroom
experiencesand
docum
enta
tjothat’ and
the
basisfor
this
chapter.P
hoto
grap
hs
were
generouslycontril)uted
hIstitu
zione-M
unicip
alP
reschoolsand
Infant-Toddler
Centers
ofR
eggioItaly,
and
Reggio
Child
ren.
We
alsow
antto
than
kJie-Q
iC
hen,H
eidiA
fldd’
lisaI’iore,
Mindy’
Kornhaber,
andT
hviaM
eadfor
com
men
ting
On
earlierof
this
chapter.W
ededicate
ourch
apter
toth
em
emory
oftw
ooutsta&
educato
rs,colleagues,
andfriends—
JanetStork
aiitlM
aggieD
onovan.‘
1.O
rderof
auth
ors
was
determ
ined
bya
cointoss.
V
2.P
reschoolsin
Reggio
Em
iliaco
ntain
classrooms
with
2teachers
and26
three-,four-,
orfive-year-old
child
ren.
An
atelierista(sonleone
trained
inthe
V
arts)w
orksw
ithth
eclassroom
teachers.‘l’here
isno
schooldirector,
butthereis
aco
ord
inatin
gteam
of10
pedagogistasw
itha
back
gro
und
inpsychoIogyor
VV
ped
agogy
that
coord
inates
the
work
ofseveral
schoolseach.
Fivehoursa
areded
icatedto
nonclassro
om
activities,such
asprofessional
developmplan
nin
g,
prep
aration
ofm
aterials,an
dm
eetings
with
colleaguesor
p::.
VV
Child
renstay
with
the
same
cohort
thro
ughout
their
3years
atth
eschool,
V
over
the
courseof
that
time,
everychild
engagesin
robustlong-term
proj.ects—
oftenin
small
groups—w
hichare
info
rmed
byteachers’
carefuldocu-
‘m
entatio
nof
children’slearning.
Alliance
forC
hild
hood.
(2009).C
risisiii
tlic’kiiuleigarten:
Why
cinidrenneed
toplay
inschools.
Retrieved
fromhttp
://ww
w.allian
ceforch
ildhood.o
rgl3arnett,
W.
S.,llu
stedt,
J.,Friedm
an,A
.,B
oyd,J.,
&A
insworth,
P.(2007).
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ofpreschool:
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Cam
den,N
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ationalIn
stitute
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arlyE
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esearch,llruner,
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bridge,M
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ihalyi,M
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ewY
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orldand
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illdeterm
ineour
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ewY
ork:T
eachersC
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orman,
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