Play and learning in our student kindergartens – the children explore colours and shapes through play with building blocks. Photo: Borgar Sagbakken.
Children are curious, exploratory and competent. At our student kindergartens, we facilitate creativity and participation.
The Reggio Emilia Approach is rooted in a deep respect for the child. We consider that the child is competent, intelligent, curious and exploratory. In a world undergoing constant change, our pedagogy must also develop. For children to understand and be able to influence the society we live in, they must be given the opportunity to explore and express themselves through “a hundred ways of thinking, playing and speaking” – a paraphrase of Loris Malaguzzi’s poem The Hundred Languages of Children.
The poem highlights a societal challenge: When we promote one “right” way of doing things, we deprive children of the opportunity to think for themselves, find new solutions and view the world with creative eyes. Society needs problem solvers who see values beyond material things, achievements and affirmation from others. Consequently, we attach importance to exploration among children, parents and educators, so that together we can be wiser about ourselves, each other and the world around us.
