We are in dialogue with the educators in Reggio Emilia, and exist to organize opportunities to come together to interrogate our assumptions about children, educators, families, communities, and the places we inhabit, and to recognize and challenge our discourses so we can incline toward the level of joy, creativity, relationship, complexity and engagement that is the “everyday utopia” of Reggio Emilia’s education and cultural project.
Ontario Reggio Association Mission Statement
Our members have told us how much they value opportunities to engage in meaningful dialogue. We know that there is comfort in being with others who share our views. The risk with those exchanges is that our assumptions are usually affirmed without challenge, thereby diminishing the opportunity for learning and transformation. It is possible to challenge our own and each other’s viewpoints, ethically and respectfully – with intent to move beyond agreement… to move ourselves beyond the familiar and comfortable. This is most likely to happen when we are engaged collectively, in dialogue – coming together with an intent to poke and pull at ideas and practices.
We have come to appreciate a word introduced to us by our colleagues in Reggio Emilia: confronto. It describes an exchange of views where everyone comes with the intention of moving their thinking – and leaves with diverse perspectives and new ideas to ‘think with’. It is closer to the meaning of the word “conversation” – to turn together – than to confrontation. Carla Rinaldi (2021) describes a kind of listening that is not easy, but that would be necessary:
It requires a deep awareness and a suspension of our judgments and prejudices. It requires openness to change. It demands that we value the unknown and overcome the feelings of emptiness and precariousness that we experience when our certainties are questioned. (p. 39)
- October 6, 6:30 – 8:00 p.m.
Over the past two decades, paperwork, checklists and stressful schedules have come to dominate the day in early years environments. What is the message to educators, children, and families about how they are viewed in this context? Supervisors describe the endless “onboarding” paperwork and challenges to keep and develop qualified staff. Educators report burnout, anxiety, and pressure to complete too many tasks in a day, indicating a need to change our workplace cultures. What tasks get top priority, and what gets put on the back burner, even while we hunger for authentic engagement? When educators are compelled to comply rather than research, create and design, should we be surprised at burnout? How can we redesign days and responsibilities so time is spent on what really matters? What structures are getting in our way, and where/how do we nurture the joy and spark in our work? Supervisors and mid-career educators may be especially positioned to contribute to this Round Table – of course, all are welcome!
Read More- November 17, 6:30 – 8:00 p.m.
How Does Learning Happen? is a “pedagogy based on relationship”. Would our systems of organization suggest that the predominant type of relationship in early education programs is hierarchical? And does that hierarchy …put those who work directly with children at the bottom? What would it take to build contexts where groups of educators and children welcome different perspectives as they think together every day, with curiosity and engagement?
Read More- January 12, 6:30 – 8:00 p.m.
Our pedagogy for early years in Ontario states that we view children as capable of complex thinking, and along with educators and families, as valuable contributors. To what extent is this evident in practice? How do we become … educators who bring this view to life in every aspect of what we do? What space could developmentalism take, if not the ‘whole’ picture? What other ways of viewing children may get pulled under/aside by traditional developmental tools? Let’s probe the incongruities between what we say we believe about children and what we do and consider how we might bring these closer together.
Read MoreSustaining productive tensions might feel counterintuitive. It can feel strange to engage in dialogue that is not focused on quick answers (i.e., a staff meeting) or consensus in order to get through the day (e.g., masking what I really think or experience). Why gather with people you trust and enjoy, to look for differences of perspective, to create friction – and risk disagreement? However, without that disequilibrium, there is a high risk of stagnation. As Carla suggests, these encounters can foster an uplifting sense of solidarity and confidence. To be clear, this is not a process of argument or debate (i.e., trying to ‘win’) – rather, we come together to purposely push at our own ‘status quo’ and create new thinking, together. Some practitioners have characterized it as “getting comfortable with being uncomfortable” or as gathering to “bump our heads together” on some new ideas to generate new thoughts.
We propose three online opportunities to come together to engage in conversation that aspires to confronto. It will take practice! These Round Table Conversations will focus on aspects of our dominant discourses and the taken-for-granted practices that shape the everyday experience in early education settings.
Upon viewing The Wonder of Learning exhibit from Reggio Emilia when it was in Toronto, former Deputy Minister of Education Bruce Rodrigues, clearly struck by the beauty and complexity of the work, said “What’s holding us back?” It is our hope that our Round Table Conversations will address some possible answers to that question, and open the door to transformation.
Any member can register to participate in one, two, or all three of these gatherings. It could be particularly generative to be with a colleague so the dialogue can continue – especially one who would enjoy engaging in ‘confronto’ with you!
The fee is $20 /session. Registration will be limited to 25 people. We will keep a waiting list if we reach capacity, and if warranted will offer a second date to focus on that topic. Each gathering is 90 minutes in length on Zoom. Please arrive with an operational camera and microphone to enable active engagement. These gatherings will not be recorded.
References
Foucault, M. (1988). Politics, philosophy, culture: Interviews and other writings 1977-1984. Routledge.
Rinaldi, C. (2021). In dialogue with Reggio Emilia: Listening, researching and learning (2nd ed.). Routledge.