Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/studying-reggio-inspired-early-childhood-emergent-inquiry-...-online!/5027078/
*Photos and figures can be found in the pdf version of this article.
We know that quality early childhood programs for young children incorporate play, creativity, exploration, and inquiry. When early childhood teachers learn about constructivist theory and engage in collaborative discourse with peers, and then apply these inquiry practices with children, it is motivating. Educators see themselves as co-researchers on a learning journey with children.
Reggio-inspired curriculum is children’s research, where children’s voices and theories are the guiding feature. Teachers become co-researchers in the many ways they observe, to understand children’s purposes and design the learning environments to support ongoing inquiry. Our grounding in these ideas stems from witnessing co-research among children and teachers when we participated in a Reggio Children study tour in 2010. Upon our return from Italy, we began to conceptualize the emergent inquiry program. As constructivist early childhood faculty, we were inspired to provide a program in which early childhood educators in our region could learn more about this approach.
Our online program launched in 2012, with the aim of articulating the social, cultural, and educational history of emergent inquiry and Reggio-inspired early childhood education. It is designed to model scientific inquiry as an approach to teaching, learning, ...