ERIC ED375923: American Early Education Reform: Adaptation pdf

ERIC ED375923: American Early Education Reform: Adaptation

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Description of the Book:

The Reggio Emilia preschools in Italy have much to offer U.S. early education practitioners. If adapted, based on an understanding of American culture and of how American children learn, four components of the Reggio Emilia model can be useful in American early childhood settings. First, projects based on the interests of children can be used to develop a deeper understanding of a phenomenon over an undetermined period of time. Second, children can be encouraged to express their thinking, feelings, and dispositions creatively in various modes of expression, with parents playing an important role in the learning process. Third, teachers should become systematic researchers into the ways that children learn and construct knowledge, carefully observing and documenting children’s thinking and development. Fourth, teachers should recognize the educational possibilities of the environment, with its power to organize and promote personal relationships, create beauty, provide changes, and promote choices and activities.

School administrators have an enabling role to play in school reform. They should encourage teachers to share their successes, invite parents to be part of the classroom, visit classrooms often, and provide teachers with the time, funding, and recognition needed to make meaningful changes in the classroom. Specific practical suggestions for teachers are presented for each model component. Contains 22 references. (AC

• Creator/s: ERIC
• Date: 1994
• Year: 1994
• Book Topics/Themes: ERIC Archive, Action Research, Classroom Design, Classroom Environment, Educational Improvement, Foreign Countries, Models, Parent Participation, Portfolios (Background Materials), Preschool Education, Reggio Emilia Approach, Student Projects, Teacher Role, Teaching Methods

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