Bucket List #45 Visit Reggio Emilia (Check)

It isn't the end of our stay here at Reggio Emilia but I am compelled to write about the experience we had yesterday.  It has been one of the most inspiring and mind-stimulating days to date!  In fact, I came home from this brain-filled day and typed all the information I could possibly remember from the day and more.  I couldn't be more inspired to do what I love than in this moment.  I couldn't sleep a wink last night thinking of the endless possibilities for my future.

Our day began by visiting the REMIDA which was created in 1996 in Reggio Emilia and is a cultural project for sustainability, creativity and research into discarded materials.  It promotes the idea that remnants, imperfect things, are potential bearers of beauty, capable of stimulating reflection, offering resources to education and escaping the definition of "useless" and "rubbish."

The members pay a one-time fee per year and for the remaining visits in the year they can just come and go as they please (and take what they want).  It isn't open to the public but it is available to educators, artists, and businesses.  For example, the school would pay 30 euros a year for their teachers to go as they please and take what they want for their classroom.  This would be my heaven!

The REMIDA is funded by the Reggio Children foundation (and I think a little bit of it is funded through the city as well).

This recycling place takes donations (aka unused scraps) from over 200 factories.  All the factories are located in Reggio Emilia.  My first thought was wow they sure have a lot of factories just in this small city but then I thought how sad it is that we have NO factories.  Everything we buy nowadays comes from China.  It sort of blew my mind that they make everything for themselves here in Italy.  What would happen if importation just stopped in Canada?  What is truly made in Canada these days?

They save books and give them away to anyone who wants them.

The Paper Project - they wanted adults and children to explore with paper.  They didn't want to change the state of paper but instead truly discover what paper can do on its own.  They had samples of paper being crumbled, soaked and stuck together, absorbed, dyed, crinkled, smudged, stretched, torn, layered, folded, etc.

The Yarn Project - Have you ever wondered what you should do with that small little bit of yarn you had left over from knitting something?  The Reggio Community found a purpose for all that left over bits and pieces of yarn.  They are making the Italian flag using all the scraps.  People are encouraged to come in and sew, knit, crochet a row or a whole piece to add to their project.  It's demonstrates the amazing cohesiveness this community consists of.  Like each piece, this community is woven together as one!

** Side note (thanks to Auntie Sue) Reggio Emilia is the community who came up with the red, white and green flag.

I am not too sure how big they are going to make the flag but it's going to be HUGE!

They don't receive very much cork or glass but they do get a lot of rubber and plastic donated.  They get a new shipment from the factories every Thursday.  They have volunteers who break down the products and restock the shelves.  When we were visiting, two volunteers were taking the thread off the spools so the thread could be used and the spools can be used for a project.

I really liked the clear containers that they displayed recycling in.  I was thinking how better it would be if we displayed our recycling this way.  I know, not practical, the containers would be dirty and bag are easier.  However, in a school children having the chance to actually see the products and the variety of ways glass, plastic, aluminum, etc comes in.  What a valuable learning tool!

They started receiving donations from 20-30 factories and most factories they had to beg and plead for their unused scraps.  But now they are so well established that lots of factories want to give them their rubbish.  In fact, some companies could use the waste product and sell it but donate it instead to the REMIDA.

The next stop in our tour was visiting the Loris Malaguzzi Centre.  Loris Malaguzzi was the founder of the Reggio Emilia philosophy.  The city has created this centre to host workshops, teach educators and guests about the philosophy, and display projects done from the Preschools.

This philosophy is intended for preschool aged children.  I don't want to go into detail about what the philosophy believes in however here is a link.  However, one very important piece to the philosophy is that Loris Malaguzzi thought children learn and communicate using a variety of languages.  These languages are sculpting, reading, writing, drawing, painting, music, sewing, constructing, etc.  They uses these "languages" to express themselves and learn.

A little history we learned on the tour:

The whole town in the 30's was already interested in child-rearing and knew the important development that takes place in children between the ages of 0 - 5.  When the war ended in 1945, Germany started to make their way back up North.  In Italy there is a very large river and in order for the Germans to get over it they had to leave the heavy vehicles and tanks behind because there was no bridge or way to get over it at that time.  The one tank was made out of iron and so the community decided to sell it off and took a vote (both men and women voted) with what they should do with the money.  The men voted for a cinema and the women voted for a preschool.  The women won!  This was the start of the community coming together to build a preschool and build a philosophy.

In 1980, Loris Malaguzzi created the first ever travelling exhibition called, The Hundred Languages of Children.  This exhibition started travelling European cities and eventually came over to United States in 1987.  This exhibition I believe is in New York City right now.  

"Newsweek Magazine, declared Reggio Emilia as having the best preschools in the world."

The Ray of Light atelier is a place of research and experiment, of immersion in an environment where light in its different forms can be investigated through exploration which provoke wonder, marvelling and curiosity, to stimulate creativity and deeper investigation.

 The presence of light is essential for life, it has a strong metaphorical value and a great fascination.

This is a small look at another exhibition in the centre.  I am going back this week to do more reading on this exhibition.

Then our last stop was touring a preschool.  In this particular preschool there were four classrooms.  Each classroom is divided by age (i.e. three year olds, four year olds, five year olds, and a split class of three and five year olds).  Two teachers in each classroom with an average of 25 students in each classroom.  One atelier (artist studio) and one atelierista (artist with no education background) in the school.  My dream job would be to be the atelierista in a Reggio School.  This school has a school garden and a full functioning kitchen.  They have one full time cook and 3 prep workers.  Food, along with the arts, is very important in the philosophy.  

Each classroom has no desks but mini centres set up for the children to work in small groups.  Each classroom has a mini atelier in the back corner.  

The middle hallway (couldn't get a picture) is called the Piazza and is the main hub of the school.  In the morning the children come to school and play here and it's a meeting spot for parents, teachers, and students.  It connects all the classrooms and has tons of light coming down from the skylights.

There is a huge emphasis on transparency in the school.  Lots of windows to connect the inside world with the outside world and nature.

The presence of children is very evident with the years of documentation displayed in their hallways and the marks the children have made in every nook and cranny of their classroom.

The classrooms are very open and spacious.  Space is an important component to the classrooms as well.  Each classroom has a second level where the children have more opportunity to play but also a place for them to nap in the afternoon.

The furniture is mostly made with wood and lots of tables surfaces are either mirrored or light tables.

The schedule for the preschool starts at 9 am and the students will do a lesson.  Then at 11:15 the students will have time to play and eat.  Then from 12:15 to 3 the children will nap or have quiet time.  Afterwards, they will have one more hour of learning then sent home.  Some parents pay extra and the children stay later after school (from 4:30 to 6:30 pm).

There weren't many people on the tour that spoke English and so we thought we were going to get a tour in Italian.  Thankfully, there was someone there who spoke amazing English and we were able to get our own private tour with her.  So, it was us and this wonderful family from Ireland that was on the tour with us.  They had a little one with them as well so it was fun for Finn to have a buddy!

My brain is full, my body is tired, my heart is happy, and I am so gung ho to start teaching again.