Principles Behind the Practice
Reflection on 1st Place Approach
Principles behind the Practice
Educators and the Artelirista seek to enable parents understand and share the joy of the work they do with children by displaying photos, documentation, adult engagement, and children’s voices. Parents often appreciate the quality of the content, some of them are sometimes amazed by the depth and length to which we go.
This article aims to give the context, highlight the elements of the underpinning influence on 1st Place Approach and our practice and shows how the principles are applied in the execution of Black History Month and Christmas celebrations with Chumleigh Gardens Nursery children this year.
The1st Place Approach is rooted in the Reggio Emilia approach and pedagogy. The principles place a high value on a respectful image of the child in the curriculum planning process and delivery. The image of the child is well articulated in ‘A Hundred Languages’ poem by Loris Malaguzzi, the founder of the approach.
Good practice requires on-going reflection and evaluation of how the fundamental values, drawn from Reggio Emilia principles are applied and made evident in the way children’s enquiries and learning are supported.
Guided by the principle of a respectful image of the child, 1st Place educators follow the children’s interests and enquiries, then they work towards expanding their thinking by making relevant connections between their previous knowledge and new learning. Generally, people learn better when they work on their interest.
Making connections is vital because it is about learning how things are related to each other and how the physical world works. Therefore, Early Educators always seek to make connections to support or confirm children's acquisition of new knowledge and understanding through play.
Aylesbury Room children developed an intense interest in the Queen, after a child shared the story of her experience attending the Queen’s Jubilee celebration. Their curiosity about the Queen’s life was further heightened when she died in September. Consequently, the children engaged in imaginative and creative play, dressing up, pretending to be royals, drawing, making crowns, jewellery and eventually they built a big castle!
In placing a high value on a respectful Image of the child, during Black History month, the educators did not drop the prevailing interest to pick up new Black History month topic, rather they explored a connection between the interest in the Queen and the wider focus of black history without losing the essence of either. The educators played their role as researchers, (another key element of Reggio principle), found a connection by investigating with the children, the black countries the Queen visited in her lifetime and the African Queens in history.
While the toddlers in Albany room were busy exploring an interest in transport, to make relevant connection for them during black history month, they read a book about Rosa Parks, the black lady who was denied a ride on the bus. They discussed her achievement and moral of the story. They built a bus and an aircraft, visited the transport museum, made up a song about Rosa Parks on the bus to the tune of The Wheels on the Bus!
Christmas decorations transformed the nursery environment, but decorations used were not typical. Most of the children’s project work were used for decorations, hence valuing, and respecting their work by displaying them with Christmas lights. The Baby room children’s interest in autumn was also reflected in making Christmas decorations with autumn leaves and pinecones. The castle has pride of place, the bus imagined to be Santa’s means of transport into nursery instead of a sleigh and graded size of wheels represented the Christmas tree at the main entrance of the building.
Based on the belief that parents are their children’s first and most important teachers, they made vital contributions during Black History month by borrowing from the book collection on African Queens to read at home, reading other themed books relevant to the subject to children in nursery, a parent dressed up in African outfit to read and shared personal stories and photos. Also, for Christmas, some parents read Christmas stories, helped with crafts, music, sent photos of to contribute to the topic of Christmas around the world and others accompanied children on trips.
Another vital principle is seeing the child as part of the community. This was evident through the display of the world map, to identify the countries the Queen visited. The children and staff proudly pointed out their countries of origin. The Christmas Carol Singing event that drew the children, their families, and staff team together in a joyful celebration also promoted a sense of community. Also, parents who are currently sharing how Christmas is celebrated in their countries are contributing to the children having a view into a wider global community.
The environment is referred to as the third teacher in Reggio Emilia practice. The nursery environment was progressively set up to stimulate thoughts relevant to the learning taking place during the two periods. The documentation captured their learning process and captured their voices.
At the core of Regio Emilia philosophy is an assumption that children form their own personality during the early years of development and that they are endowed with "a hundred languages", through which they can express their ideas, be expressive and creative thinkers. The aim of Reggio influenced 1st Place Approach is to support children in using the symbolic languages mentioned in the poem (e.g., painting, sculpting, drama, trips, discussions) in everyday life. This what we seek to achieve in 1st Place nurseries.
Written by Bunmi Adams, Early Education Manager at Chumleigh Gardens Nursery.