March 29, 2024

My Educon 2.3 session

Lessons for K-12 from the Best Preschools in the World

When: Session One: Saturday 10:00am–11:30am
Where: Room 208
Who: Gary S. Stager Ph.D.
Affiliation: The Constructivist Consortium
The Reggio Emilia Approach represents some of the deepest richest thinking on the establishment of learning environments, the role of the teacher as a researcher charged with uncovering the thinking of learners and authentic problem solving over the past fifty years. The presenter has studied the approach here and in Italy, will discuss how elements that make the Reggio Emilia Approach so special, share gorgeous books and videos from Italy and discuss how this approach needs to be culturally sensitive, but may inform the teaching of any discipline at any age.

The session will also share examples from American popular culture, including the DIY movement and how accomplished experts “teach” in a similar fashion as an invitation for discussion about our own teaching and learning.

Conversational Practice:

The presenter will share the subtle, beautiful, powerful ideas behind the Reggio Emilia Approach; discuss how it is not a formula; share videos, artifacts and books from and about Reggio Emilia; and present examples of Reggio-like teaching and learning from our popular culture. Participants will explore the materials and discuss how powerful ideas of deliberate materials, teacher are researcher, beauty, children with special rights, the 100 languages of children, classrooms as 1,000 laboratories and meaningful project-based learning could be applied to make their teaching context more productive for learning.

Register for Educon 2.3 – January 28-30, 2011 – Philadelphia, PA