On March 15, 23 Early Childhood Jewish Educators from Greater Washington, under the leadership of Mara Bier, Director of Early Childhood Initiatives at the Partnership for Jewish Life and Learning, joined 19 colleagues from Baltimore and 20 from Israel for a Study Institute in Reggio Emilia, Italy. The small town in Northern Italy is known for a world renowned philosophy of early childhood education. The study portion of the trip was bracketed by Shabbat in the Venetian Ghetto and in Florence hosted by chabad. Check out pics on Facebook here.

The intention of the Study Institute, entitled “Exploring Reggio through a Jewish Perspective,” was to learn philosophy and content from the lead educators of Reggio Emilia and connect the philosophy to Jewish values strengthening our Judaic curricula. The week in Reggio Emilia consisted of lectures, explorations of exhibits, tours of school programs, a visit to ReMida - the recycling center of the Reggio Schools - and many opportunities to interact with the professionals from Reggio Emilia and the members of the Study Institute.

The Early Childhood Educators who participated came prepared to learn. As a group they have been meeting to study, explore, question and discuss the Reggio Philosophy all year. The ten-day journey is an opportunity to validate thinking and to continue to explore. The group came back excited and hungry for more learning, for the opportunity to implement some of what they learned, and for the chance to work with their fellow teachers who did not have the opportunity to join the group.

“What we learned was that the match between our way of thinking about children as Jewish educators and their learning and the way that the Reggio philosophy thinks of children’s capacity and learning is a perfect match,” said Naomi Reem, Head Master at Jewish Primary Day School.

The schools of Reggio Emilia have strong core values and carry these values into every aspect of their relationship with children and families. They hold, as central to their thinking, the Image of the Child and their belief that every child is capable of unlimited potential, can express themselves in many ways, and is deserving of being listened to. In Judaism, we would see this as being an expression of the value B’Tzelem Elokim (being created in the image of God).  This philosophy impacts the way they teach, the way they set up their environment and the ways they collaborate with children, families and colleagues. Their philosophy is based on the theories of Loris Malaguzzi, the founder of the Reggio Approach. Early on, Malaguzzi studied the works of leading philosophers such as Froebel, Montessori, Dewey, Piaget, and Vigotsky blending their theories with the commitment of the townspeople to help children become “participating citizens of a democratic society.” In our Jewish value construct we connect this to the importance of belonging to a kehillah (a community). The Reggio pedagogy reflects teaching children to hypothesize, see the world through different perspectives, collaborate, question and make time to pause and reflect (prayer). In recent years the educators of Reggio Emilia have continued to collaborate with current educational theory leaders such as Howard Gardner, Jerome Bruner and Lilian Katz. The schools of Reggio Emilia began their investigation into children’s learning just after World War II and continue to improve and implement new thinking every day.

“The message of intentionality - the understanding that everything that happens in the preschools of Reggio Emilia is carefully though out - is an important message,” said Reem. All of the participants will be reexamining classroom environments to ensure that they both reflect and respect the beauty of the natural world and serve as a protagonist for children’s learning.

“The experience was so much richer because of the bonds we created, the experiences we shared, the thoughts and insights we exchanged….Ultimately, it will benefit our students, and our families, and our community,” Reem added.

“We were all deeply affected by our encounter with the schools of Reggio Emilia,” said Madeline Lowitz Gold, Director of Temple Emanuel Early Childhood Center. “Struck by the consistency of their values and deep belief in the importance of relationships, our shared experiences will now help us shape our work within our community.  How fortunate we were to share the opportunity to be totally immersed in a culture that truly values and respects the capabilities of both children and teachers."

“At the study institute we began the work of examining our core Jewish values and looking at how we use teacher provocations and our environment to promote Jewish learning and Jewish curriculum. I am looking forward to our studying together to deepen my understanding and ability to bring meaningful Jewish concepts to our youngest learners and their families in my school through the concepts of the Reggio Approach,” said Brenda Footer, Curriculum Specialist Adas Israel Nursery School).

Bier says that after Passover, the DC group will continue to work in the same way they experienced in Reggio.

“We will meet in both small and large groups and incorporate those in our preschools, teachers and directors, who participated in the first Jewish Study Institute in 2008. We will continue to research, read, revisit, and reflect as a community of learners bringing together multiple voices and perspectives from each sub-community as well as our colleagues and parents in order to strengthen our larger community. We will look at philosophy of the Reggio Emilia Approach and reinterpret it for our context- that of the Jewish Early Childhood Centers in the Washington DC area."
 
This study institute was designed by Bier, Dr. Naama Zoran, a Consultant from Israel, and DJ Jensen, Director of Early Childhood at the Center for Jewish Education in Baltimore, in collaboration with the educators of Reggio Emilia. Participating schools this year included Beth El Preschool - Montgomery County, Adas Israel Nursery School, Shaare Torah Nursery School, Young Israel Shomrai Emunah Nursery School, Temple Emanuel Early Childhood Center, Temple Rodef Shalom, The Jewish Primary Day School, Ganon Gil Preschool at the JCC of Greater Washington, and Washington DCJCC.