Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/applying-reggio-inspired-practices-in-virtual-early-childhood-contexts/5026249/
When early childhood education is guided by an image of the child as capable and competent, are there any limits to the shape of the containers holding learning experiences?
My ongoing investigations around applying Reggio inspired practices in an all-virtual context continue to illuminate how widely applicable these ways of being with young children are. My experiences are continuing to affirm a strong image of the child, and hopefully will serve to further elevate the field of early childhood education and provide inspiration for expanded contextual possibilities, beyond simply sharing a recollection of pandemic-era education.
When everything changed in March 2020, I was working for a Reggio inspired school in New Orleans, which graciously supported faculty in the transition to distance learning. In spite of the incertitude of it all, my co-teacher and I took the news of looming pandemic lockdowns to heart early on and quickly formed plans for moving our classroom to the virtual realm. Our combined experiences as educators, along with her background as an actress and mine as a digital media artist, made for a harmonious shift to virtual learning alongside our class of 12 3-year-olds. This transition was also deeply informed by my appreciation of Fred Rogers’ ...