21st Annual Reggio Emilia Inspired Annual Institute at Lesley University
Documentation, Design and Interpretation: Addressing Standards
The focus of this institute was giving visibility to the co-construction of knowledge and meaning through documentation. It began with a presentation of documentation from the “Together for Families” program, which reveals the competence of young children. The impact of decisions about design was also explored.
Participants collaborated in small groups using materials, with the process also being documented by participants. Meanings were constructed and decisions made about which stories to tell and how to tell them effectively. Participants also were asked to confront the tension between documentation as relationship and documenting to conform to standards.
Read a reflection about the Reggio weekend, by participants from Garden Gate Child Development Center of Martha's Vineyard, MA: The Essential Elements
2013 Institute Presenters
Jason Avery is an artist in the Artists at the Centre project in Hamilton Ontario, and has been documenting children’s work in the “Together for Families” program for over 10 years.
Karyn Callaghan is a teacher educator at Charles Sturt University and founder of the Artists at The Centre project. She has led a Reggio Study Group in Hamilton since 1998, and is president, Ontario Reggio Association. Both Karyn and Jason have been keynote speakers and presented workshops on Reggio-inspired practice across Canada.
Lella Gandini is the U.S. Liaison for the Dissemination of the Reggio Emilia approach; editor and author of many books, including The hundred Languages of Children; The Reggio Emilia Experience in Transformation 2012 and In the Spirit of the Studio: Learning from The Atelier of Reggio Emilia. She is also a visiting scholar at Lesley University, 2007-2013.
Kristina Lamour Sansone is an associate Professor of Design at the Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University. She bridges graphic design and PK-12 education. For the past 20 years, Kristina has consulted for schools in New Haven, San Francisco, Austin, and Boston. She is on the design team for a new Boston Public School that will incorporate graphic design and Universal Design for Learning into all aspects of the curriculum.
Carol Anne Wien is a professor in the Faculty of Education, York University, Toronto. She is the author of Developmentally Appropriate Practice in “Real Life”: Negotiating Standards in the Primary Classroom, and editor of Emergent Curriculum in the Primary Classroom, as well as many articles on emergent curriculum in Young Children and other journals. She has long been a student of the Reggio Emilia experience and one who loves the arts.
Joanne Szamreta is a professor at Lesley University and coordinator of the annual Reggio Emilia Institute. In the greater Cambridge/Boston area, she also is a leader in planning & organizing a Lesley-NAREA learning community for educators focused on practicing the Reggio Emilia approach. She conducts research on professional development learning communities and is a consultant to schools.
Check back later for information about the 2014 Institute.
Institute participants may enroll in the Institute course, EEDUC 5815:
The Reggio Emilia Approach to Early Childhood Education for 1, 2, or 3
credits. See the course page for more information.