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Essay on Reggio Emilia vs. Montessori
Reggio Emilia’ Approach to education is guided by the assumption that all children are capable learners who can construct, work with, and communicate significant and abstract ideas. In this knowledge creation and communication process, the model holds, children learn to become more sophisticated in their thinking and more self-directed as individuals. Furthermore, the model rests on the belief that children are capable of examining how they affect each other, of understanding the consequences of their action, and of empathy. According to the Reggio Emilia’ Approach, children are not only capable thinkers, but responsible citizens.
In Reggio Emilia, a great deal of attention is placed on structuring the learning environment to encourage group learning and sharing. The objects placed within the children's reach are objects that stimulate children’s ideas, connections to previous experiences, and interchanges with peers. The connections and interactions enhance the depth and breath of children understands of the subject at hand.
An emergent curriculum, one that is relevant to the on-going experiences and interests of a particular group of children, is at the heart of this approach. This emergent curriculum requires pedagogy of careful listening, of documentation, and of reflection. Reflection is an integral part of ongoing assessment and determines "what comes next" in the curriculum.
In the Reggio approach the teacher is not the central character. The role of the teacher is to ask thought- provoking questions of children, who are the main characters in their school experience. The teacher is keenly interested in knowing how the child thinks and solves problems. The teacher is a co-constructor and a collaborator, not the imparter of knowledge.This approach requires that teachers receive considerable training to develop expertise in co-constructing the emergent curriculum with students and helping children to develop meta-cognitive skills (skills in thinking about one’s own thinking, self-planning, and self-direction)..........
