Journal articles on the topic 'Reggio Emilia approach (Early childhood education) Project method in teaching. Early childhood education'

<p>There have been rapid economic and social demands that have continued to challenge the traditional teacher, child and parent interactions in early child education programs. Many developed countries have strategized several approaches to counter these challenges. However, third world countries are still formulating policies which can be sustainable in their present economic statuses. The Reggio Emilia (RE) Early Childhood Education (ECE) approaches has been instrumental in increasing the levels of interactions between teacher, child and the parent in developed countries. Nevertheless, a more dynamic and comprehensive approach is needed to cater for the economic and multiethnic social needs of early childhood education in developing countries. This study investigated the level of teacher, child and parent interaction in China and Tanzania with the aim of establishing the workability of Reggio Emilia (RE) in these two diverse countries. Carefully designed questionnaires based on the core values of Reggio Emilia approach has been used to obtain data from a sample of 60 early childhood teachers from China and 60 early child hood teachers from Tanzania making total of 120 early childhood teachers. Both private and public early childhood schools of China and Tanzania were involved in this study whereby from China a total of 8 schools were involved and Tanzania a total of 12 schools were involved. Both quantitative and qualitative design has been employed in this study with the use of questionnaire and interview methods in data collection from the field while social statistical software (SPSS 15) and Origin 7.0 has been used to analyze data and making of charts and graphs for visualization of the results. Result obtained from this study revealed that, Reggio Emilia interactive approach was applicable and welcomed by significant number of teachers and policy approaches; However on the other side, the findings revealed poor relationship between parents and the role of emergent curriculum to its fully meaning was not well fulfilled as most of early childhood schools in China and Tanzania found to practising the whole class teaching where by teacher knows everything. It was concluded that, the way children’s are being taught in one country will be totally different from another country although the basic outcome of the learners should be similar. The important aspect to put into consideration is people’s culture, environment, and their economic status accordingly. Hence there is a need for both countries of study to review their early childhood education policies in order to create better learning opportunities for all children.</p>

This article presents the history and framework of the Reggio Emilia philosophy, an educational approach to early childhood education that places children as the main participants and protagonists of the curriculum. It also showcases the growing influence of the Reggio Emilia philosophy around the world, through key regional and national organizations. The association of the Emilia fundamental values of the Reggio Emilia with the globally competent soft skills helps this philosophy to overcome the growing need worldwide. Ultimately, the internationalization of this approach has inspired teaching practices all over the world. Within different nations, organizations that advocate the application of Reggio Emilia principles in various schools has grown, prompting a need to educate children to that they will develop emotionally and cognitively, in making thinking visible.

Early childhood environmental education focusses on expanding children’s bio-affinity, developing their environmental attitudes and encouraging them to behave in a more environmentally friendly manner. One example of the educational method that is based on high-quality practices of both early childhood education and environmental education is the Reggio-Emilia pedagogical approach, which provides children with various nature-related experiences. This study examines the frequency and variety of indoor and outdoor nature experiences for children and the preschool teachers’ educational approaches and goals for children’s development in nature in two Reggio-Emilia preschools located in Halifax, Canada. To do this, first-hand observations and semi-structured teacher interviews were used. Results suggest that the Reggio-Emilia curriculum followed at the preschools provided various opportunities for children to be exposed to nature. However, the teachers have emphasized more on anthropocentric than nature-related educational goals.

In this article, the authors problematize the dichotomization of play and learning that often shapes the agenda of early childhood education research and practice. This dichotomization is driven in part by the tendency to define learning in terms of formal learning (i.e. learning as an outcome of direct instruction and school-based approaches that focus on teacher-led, goal-directed activities and declarative knowledge). The authors argue for a reconceptualization of early childhood education that understands learning and development not as an outcome, primarily, of instruction and teaching, but as an outcome of play and exploration. They develop this argument by drawing on Vygotsky’s theories of play, imagination, realistic thinking and creativity. These theories challenge another dichotomy – that between imagination and reality – by arguing that imagination is implicated in the meaning-making of both play and exploration. Instead of relating play to learning where play is characterized by imagination and learning by reality, the authors’ reconceptualization relates play to exploration and proposes that learning, defined as leading to human development, is an outcome of both of these activities. The authors further develop their argument by presenting ethnographic material from a qualitative research project implemented in three Swedish preschools whose practices are influenced by the Reggio Emilia pedagogical approach. The research conducted in this study contributes to new perspectives on the relationship between play and learning by introducing exploration as a counterpart to play, and this new perspective has implications for the design and practice of early childhood education, as well as for early childhood education research.

Child Distance Learning (CDL) during the pandemic has led to an optimal development of children and effective teaching and learning processes in kindergartens. To overcome this, teachers need to apply a teaching approach in accordance with the principles of kindergarten education. In addition, teachers' self-efficacy of their ability to teach is also important for developing children's skills. This study aims to describe the teaching approach and the efficacy of kindergarten teachers during the CDL process and to identify the relationship between the two. The research method used is quantitative through document analysis as a source of data findings. A total of 116 Public Kindergarten (PK) teachers in DKI Jakarta participated in filling out the Classroom Management Scale and Teachers' Sense of Efficacy Scale online. All data were processed using descriptive statistics and correlation. Furthermore, there is a document analysis carried out on the Daily / Weekly Learning Program Design in PK Jakarta. The findings identified that the teaching approach of kindergarten teachers during CDL included only two principles of kindergarten education, namely thematic teaching and developing life skills. Furthermore, PK teachers in the Jakarta area showed low self-efficacy during CDL. The teaching approach and self-efficacy were caused by teachers' unpreparedness in facing challenges during CDL. In addition, other findings indicate that there is a relationship between teaching approaches and teacher self-efficacy. Another CDL model Interventions to increase teacher self-efficacy and the extent to which the relationship between the two variables can be studied further in future studies. Keywords: Early Childhood, Distance Learning, Teaching Approach, Teacher Self-Efficacy References: Agustin, M., & Wahyudin, U. (2011). Penilaian perkembangan anak usia dini. Refika Aditama. Agustin, M., Puspita, R. D., Nurinten, D., & Nafiqoh, H. (2020). Tipikal Kendala Guru PAUD dalam Mengajar pada Masa Pandemi Covid 19 dan Implikasinya. Jurnal Obsesi: Jurnal Pendidikan Anak Usia Dini, 5(1), 334. https://doi.org/10.31004/obsesi.v5i1.598 Ayu, N. (2015). Pengelolaan Kurikulum 2013 Di Tk Negeri Pembina Semarang. Program Sarjana Universitas Negeri Semarang. Bullock, A., Coplan, R. J., & Bosacki, S. (2015). Exploring links between early childhood educators’ psychological characteristics and classroom management self-efficacy beliefs. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science, 47(2), 175–183. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0038547 Cheung, S. K., Fong, R. W. tsz, Leung, S. K. Y., & Ling, E. K. wei. (2019). The Roles of Hong Kong Preservice Early Childhood Teachers’ Creativity and Zest in Their Self-efficacy in Creating Child-centered Learning Environments. Early Education and Development, 30(6), 788–799. https://doi.org/10.1080/10409289.2019.1586224 Choi, J., Lee, J., & Kim, B. (2019). How does learner-centered education affect teacher self-efficacy? The case of project-based learning in Korea. Teaching and Teacher Education, 85, 45–57. Dimyati, J. (2016). Pembelajaran terpadu untuk taman kanak-kanak/ raudhatul athfal dan sekolah dasar. Prenamedia Group. Dinçer, Ç., & Akgün, E. (2015). Developing a classroom management skills inventory for preschool teachers and the correlation of preschool teachers’ classroom management skills with different variables. Egitim Ve Bilim, 40(117). Duffin, L., Patrick, H., & French, B. (2012). The teachers’ sense of efficacy scale: Confirming the factor structure with beginning pre-service teachers. Teaching and Teacher Education: An International Journal of Research and Studies, 28(6), 827–834. Essa, E. (2011). Introduction to early childhood education. Wadsworth. Harwati, D., & Mariyanti, S. (2014). Hubungan antara self-efficacy dengan burnout pada pengajar taman kanak-kanak sekolah “X” di Jakarta. 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Higher levels of material well-being lead almost inevitably to giving priority to individualism and personal advancement, often at the expense of civic conscience. A proposal for integrating sustainability into the curriculum is presented in the third year of the degree in Early Childhood Education at the Universitat Internacional de Catalunya (UIC). Projects on sustainable food are planned and elaborated to this aim. This study seeks to apply a global and systemic approach to solving socio-environmental problems and to check whether education for sustainable development (ESD) helps to develop and encourage actions that promote sustainable development. Quantitative research was conducted using a pre-test/post-test quasi experimental design separated by a period of didactic training in the project method. The results presented in this article show the students’ sustainability competencies (SC) improve after working on didactic proposals in a global manner. It is concluded that elaborating competencies in education for sustainable development enables an integrated approach of knowledge, procedures, attitudes and values in teaching through promoting the project method in multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary teams, which enhances future teachers’ sustainability competencies.

STEAM-based learning is a global issue in early-childhood education practice. STEAM content becomes an integrative thematic approach as the main pillar of learning in kindergarten. This study aims to develop a conceptual and practical approach in the implementation of children's education by applying a modification from STEAM Learning to R-SLAMET. The research used a qualitative case study method with data collection through focus group discussions (FGD), involving early-childhood educator's research participants (n = 35), interviews, observation, document analysis such as videos, photos and portfolios. The study found several ideal categories through the use of narrative data analysis techniques. The findings show that educators gain an understanding of the change in learning orientation from competency indicators to play-based learning. Developing thematic play activities into continuum playing scenarios. STEAM learning content modification (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math) to R-SLAMETS content (Religion, Science, Literacy, Art, Math, Engineering, Technology and Social study) in daily class activity. Children activities with R-SLAMETS content can be developed based on an integrative learning flow that empowers loose part media with local materials learning resources. Keyword: STEAM to R-SLAMETS, Early Childhood Education, Integrative Thematic Learning References Ali, E., Kaitlyn M, C., Hussain, A., & Akhtar, Z. (2018). the Effects of Play-Based Learning on Early Childhood Education and Development. Journal of Evolution of Medical and Dental Sciences, 7(43), 4682–4685. https://doi.org/10.14260/jemds/2018/1044 Ata Aktürk, A., & Demircan, O. (2017). A Review of Studies on STEM and STEAM Education in Early Childhood. Journal of Kırşehir Education Faculty, 18(2), 757–776. Azizah, W. A., Sarwi, S., & Ellianawati, E. (2020). 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Embedding play-based learning into junior primary (Year 1 and 2) Curriculum in WA. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 43(1), 112–126. https://doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2018v43n1.7 Kennedy, A., & Barblett, L. (2010). Supporting the Early Years Learning Framework. Research in Practise Series, 17(3), 1–12. Keung, C. P. C., & Cheung, A. C. K. (2019). Towards Holistic Supporting of Play-Based Learning Implementation in Kindergartens: A Mixed Method Study. Early Childhood Education Journal, 47(5), 627–640. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-019-00956-2 Keung, C. P. C., & Fung, C. K. H. (2020). Exploring kindergarten teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge in the development of play-based learning. Journal of Education for Teaching, 46(2), 244–247. https://doi.org/10.1080/02607476.2020.1724656 Krogh, S., & Morehouse, P. (2014). The Early Childhood Curriculum : Inquiry Learning Through Integration. Liao, C. (2016). 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In recent years, STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics) has received wide attention. STEAM complements early childhood learning needs in honing 2nd century skills. This study aims to introduce a loose section in early childhood learning to pre-service teachers and then to explore their perceptions of how to use loose parts in supporting STEAM. The study design uses qualitative phenomenological methods. FGDs (Focus Group Discussions) are used as data collection instruments. The findings point to two main themes that emerged from the discussion: a loose section that supports freedom of creation and problem solving. Freedom clearly supports science, mathematics and arts education while problem solving significantly supports engineering and technology education. Keywords: Early Childhood Educators, Loose-part, STEAM References: Allen, A. (2016). Don’t Fear STEM: You Already Teach It! Exchange, (231), 56–59. Ansberry, B. K., & Morgan, E. (2019). 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This article reports on a study of practitioners’ use of In-the-Picture – a reflective, observational approach – when delivering early intervention programmes to young disabled children. To date, In-the-Picture has been used mainly by researchers to study interactions and learning between young children, practitioners and the children’s parents in home and early childhood settings. Practitioners involved in this early research had expressed an interest in using the tool themselves. This project aimed to engage such potential users, support them in using the approach and gain evidence of its impact upon their practice. In-the-Picture facilitates listening and communication between adults and children with learning disabilities. It is based upon a sociocultural understanding of learning, seeing the parents, children and practitioners as agents participating in an emerging teaching and learning process. It derives from a qualitative grounded research method which enables the researcher to consider the child’s perspective, through the use of first-person narrative observation, photography of the child’s focus of attention and reflective discussion with the child, practitioners and family. This study involved 10 Portage services in England, who provide weekly home visits with a focus on supporting play and communication with their child. Training was delivered to over 80 Portage Home Visitors across these 10 services. A selected sample of 20 practitioners, 2 from each service, was interviewed after 6 weeks and again within focus groups after 3 months. All interviewees used the approach in their own way and identified challenges in its use, but In-the-Picture was seen as relevant and valuable by all the participants, producing changes in thinking and practice, while proving flexible and simple to use. The study also exemplified how current early-intervention working practices in England limit the opportunity to engage with the child’s perspective and how practitioners value having the opportunity to do so.

O presente estudo apontou os desdobramentos da utilização do Role-Playing Game (RPG) explorando temas relacionados ao Folclore na educação infantil. Assim sendo, o texto que segue é resultado do desenvolvimento de todas as etapas que foram criadas para a aplicação do projeto de pesquisa. As etapas aqui apresentadas são uma síntese dos tópicos mais importantes que foram utilizados para o desenrolar da atividade central do projeto, a saber, a criação e a aplicação do jogo de RPG sobre o folclore brasileiro para crianças do Ensino Fundamental I, de um núcleo educacional da cidade de Porto União-SC. Dessa forma, o texto aqui apresentado se divide nas seguintes etapas: 1 – o brincar e o aprender e sua conexão com o RPG; 2 – a relação brincar/aprender com a nova BNCC; 3 - o brincar e sua relação com o desenvolvimento infantil; 4 – A aplicação do RPG para o ensino do folclore; 5 – a metodologia da pesquisa; 6 – uma breve explanação sobre o produto educacional; 7 – resultados e discussão e 8 – considerações finais. Vale destacar que como metodologia optou-se pela pesquisa descritiva vinculada a abordagem qualitativa. Esta forma de pesquisa teve como foco principal a intenção de aproximar o conhecimento da vida dos estudantes da faixa etária pré-escolar com os saberes populares ligados ao folclore. Os resultados alcançados correspondem com a finalidade primordial pensada para o projeto, a saber, a capacidade de ensinar um conteúdo diferente com um método de ensino igualmente diferente. Não há dados estatísticos para mensurar o nível de aprendizagem, pois a verdadeira intenção do projeto foi a de ensinar brincando. Palavras-chave: Educação Infantil. Role-Playing Game (RPG). Folclore. Produto educacional. ABSTRACT: The present study pointed out the consequences of using the Role-Playing Game (RPG) exploring themes related to Folklore in early childhood education. Therefore, the text that follows is the result of the development of all the steps that were created for the application of the research project. The steps presented here are a synthesis of the most important topics that were used to carry out the central activity of the project, namely, the creation and application of the RPG game about Brazilian folklore for elementary school children, from an educational center in the city of Porto União-SC. Thus, the text presented here is divided into the following stages: 1 - playing and learning and its connection with the RPG; 2 - the play / learn relationship with the new BNCC; 3 - playing and its relationship with child development; 4 - The application of RPG for teaching folklore; 5 - the research methodology; 6 - a brief explanation of the educational product; 7 - results and discussion and 8 - final considerations. It is worth mentioning that as a methodology, we opted for descriptive research linked to a qualitative approach. This form of research had as main focus the intention of bringing the knowledge of the life of the students of the preschool age group with the popular knowledge linked to folklore. The results achieved correspond to the primary purpose thought for the project, namely, the ability to teach different content with an equally different teaching method. There is no statistical data to measure the level of learning, as the real intention of the project was to teach while playing. Keywords: Early Childhood Education. Role-Playing Game (RPG). Folklore. Educational product.

Background: In the history of early childhood education (ECE), language is viewed as key in teaching and learning. Children in the ECE are mostly confined to verbal communication which, to a certain extent, restricts their imagination and inventive ability. Loris Malaguzzi, the founder of the Reggio Emilia educational philosophy, initiated the Hundred Languages of Children (HLC) as a pedagogical approach to enable children to interact and communicate.Aim: This study aims to explore the role of HLC through the experiences and views of the four ECE practitioners in the Gauteng province. Drawing on Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences, the author argues that ECE children possess different kinds of minds, and therefore they learn in different ways.Setting: Two Early Childhood centres in the Gauteng Province of South Africa were selected for this study because they had adopted Malaguzzi’s HLC approach to constructing concepts to help children structure knowledge and organise learning.Methods: The author used one-on-one interviews to get ECE practitioners’ experiences on using Malaguzzi’s HLC. To corroborate the interviews’ data, the author conducted classroom observations and document analysis.Results: The participants viewed Malaguzzi’s HLC as an enabler to meet the requirement of the two sets of curricula from the Department of Social Development (the National Curriculum Framework for children from 0 to 4 years) and from the Department of Basic Education (the Curriculum Assessment and Policy Statement for 5-year-old children).Conclusion: The findings show a paradigm shift, as children become active constructors of their own knowledge.

This article presents and discuss Visual Ethnography as Methodological approach to research on embodied making and learning in preprimary education. Children’s making processes with materials and tools are visible. What children learn in and through these processes is not necessary visible. The article reflect on how visual ethnography (Pink, 2007) contribute to uncover and understand ongoing learning processes through visual documented making situations. The empirical material referred to, includes children from one to six years old and staff in Norwegian kindergarten as participants. Ethnographic methods are frequently used in educational research. Rose (2007) discusses visual methods within different methodological approaches. Preschools and Early Childhood Centers in Reggio Emilia, Italy (Giudici, Rinaldi, Krechevsky, 2001; Rinaldi, 2006; Vecchi, 2010) has developed various ways of documentation that focus on visual readable material. Norwegian kindergartens inspired by the educational experiences in Reggio Emilia aims to develop pedagogical documentation as didactic tool in daily educational processes, with visual presentations as central part. The article discusses how visual ethnography as method gives the opportunity to present research findings also through visual representations, how these may give another insight in small children’s making than pure written text, and focus on ethical dilemmas concerning visual presentation. The connection between visual ethnography as research method and the presentation of research insights and findings, explore and visualize small children’s learning processes during embodied making with materials and tools, and contribute to research on children’s learning processes in preprimary education. Key words: Visual ethnography, pictures, video, preprimary education, materials, embodied making and learning, Reggio Emilia atelier

While our multimedia world, with rapid advances in technologies, now challenges educators to consider new pedagogies that expand cultural and linguistic diversity, the potential for information and communication technologies (ICT) to support literacy learning in the early years remains a seriously under-researched area. There is an urgency to address a range of questions raised by teacher practitioners such as what new literacies will look like in their programs, how ICT can be used to learn in new ways, and which pedagogies of multiliteracies are relevant for early childhood education. This paper explores these questions in relation to knowledge management initiatives and e-learning opportunities. The Willy Wagtail Tale presents a case study of how knowledge management and e-learning is socially constructed to enrich multiliteracies experiences in the early years. The study occurred in a small Western Australian school committed to the Reggio Emilia teaching approach. Implications for educational research are that multiliteracies experiences occur inadvertently through children’s play, are integral to The Hundred Languages of Children, and are dramatically enriched through social constructivist knowledge management and child-centered e-learning.

Project-based learning (PBL) is a promising teaching method for integrated science education that has gained momentum in educational research and curriculum reforms, especially as a method to enhance 21st century skills and connected worldview. How teachers implement PBL greatly affects students’ content understanding and development of skills. The purpose of this qualitative study is to highlight active teachers’ PBL practices and their perceptions of the advantages and challenges of implementing PBL to better promote the implementation of PBL in teacher education programs and in integrated science education. This study consisted of two parts: (1) a qualitative-led survey and (2) a case study. First, the data for the survey was collected from January to March 2017 through an online reporting form of an international StarT programme. This programme supports the implementation of interdisciplinary and collaborative PBL in science, mathematics and technology education. 244 teachers from early childhood education to upper secondary school participated from 28 countries. Second, 12 PBL units reported by the teachers were chosen for a case study. The teachers exploited PBL practices that were theme- and inquiry-based, collaborative and engaging to students. However, closer inspection revealed variation and defects in the practices particularly in relation to assessment, using reflection and student-centred approach. In addition, teachers reported several challenges relating to the implementation of PBL. The results indicate that teachers see PBL as beneficial but need support with the implementation. Science teachers’ pedagogical competence in PBL could be promoted through collaborative learning in which students, teachers and other participants are learning from each other.