Illuminating Reggio Practice through Local Stories

Join us for a series of four workshops, plus a bonus special event in May, as we focus on the values of the Reggio Emilia Approach as illustrated by stories from guest educators working with infants to preschool children. We will highlight the principles and share documentation from local educators with time for discussion and questions. All sessions are online via Zoom and held in the evenings from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. ET. Please see specific workshop descriptions below. Registration is for the full series of workshops.

Workshop 1:

Children as Citizens, Families as Partners: Anti-Bias Coaching for Educators & Families

December 2, 2021 from 7:00 – 8:30 p.m. ET

Guest Educator: Victor L. Bradley Jr., Anti-Bias & Anti-Racist Educational Programming, Coaching, & Custom Curriculums

How do we honor children’s voices when they ask about the racial realities of economic injustice, police brutality, and immigration without traumatizing them with anxiety and fear? “What can we do, we’re just kids” is something we often hear young children say. How do we support children in seeing themselves as activists and work to dismantle the inequities in their learning environment? How do we extend this support out into the community we serve? In this workshop, Victor Bradley Jr. will guide and offer materials, books, strategies, and tools to support and respond in a developmentally appropriate way.

Workshop 2:

Pedagogy of Listening and Circles of Inquiry

January 27, 2022 form 7:00 – 8:30 p.m. ET

Guest Educators: Megina Baker, Director of Teaching and Learning at Neighborhood Villages, Janet Theurer, Toddler Teacher at Peabody Terrace Children’s Center (PTCC), Amanda Caufield, Preschool Teacher at PTCC.

What might a pedagogy of listening look and sound like? Megina Baker will highlight the use of teacher inquiry and the importance of listening to our children, co-teachers, and families. Toddler teachers from PTCC will share how they use observational tools, such as the Cycle of Inquiry and The Thinking Lens, to enable individual toddlers and small groups to solve their own problems. Preschool teachers from PTCC will share how the children’s interest in transformation schemas was supported and extended by teachers through the Cycle of Inquiry and Backwards Design. Participants will learn about and reflect on the role of the teacher in curriculum design.

Workshop 3:

The Language of Materials

March 3, 2022 from 7:00 – 8:30 p.m. ET

Guest Educators: Jen Selbitschka, Teacher Educator Program Director at Boulder Journey School, Natacha Shillingford, Director at Epiphany’s Early Learning Center, Suchira Channoi, Pedagogista and Teacher at Worcester Head Start

In what ways does the environment serve as a third teacher? How are the materials we add to our environments critical to this relationship? We will consider the term ‘intelligent materials’ to unpack how materials support deeper experiences among children. Educators from the Boulder Journey school will highlight ways to think about how and which materials are selected. Teacher leaders, Natacha and Suchira, will share how teachers reconsider the environment and materials based on the children’s interests and extended learning.

Workshop 4:

Embracing Our Environments: Classrooms without Walls

April 7, 2022 from 7:00 – 8:30 p.m. ET

Guest Educators: Karen First, Director at Ipswich River Nature Preschool, Sara Murray, Co-Founder of Boston Outdoor Preschool Network, and Kate Carter and Jessica Tripp, Teachers at Charlestown Nursery School.

Do classrooms need walls? Explore with educators who embraced the shift of bringing their classrooms outdoors and the concept that anything that happens indoors, can also occur outside. How do teachers adjust to learning without walls? What benefits does being outdoors offer our learning? Karen First will speak about the importance of nature-based learning and we will discover how Charlestown Nursery School and the Boston Outdoor Preschool Network use their spaces and resources to best serve children in the middle of the city.

Workshop 5:

Abolitionist Teaching in the Early Years

May 5 from 6:30 – 9:00 p.m. ET

Guest Educator: Ki Gross (they/them), Abolitionist Educator, Creative Architect with Woke Kindergarten.

In this workshop, Ki illuminates the ways the prison industrial complex manifests in early childhood and takes participants on an exploration of how we can disrupt the PIC through a comprehensive and interactive journey into Woke Kindergarten’s abolitionist early learning pedagogy. Participants can expect to leave with an introductory understanding of abolitionist praxis in the early years, how to use Woke Kindergarten’s resources as healing-centered engagement in practice and a more thorough understanding of abolitionist politic, the pursuit of liberation and ultimately what that means—and how we show up—for our very youngest Black and brown children and their families. This workshop features an interactive guide that participants will use during the session. The two-hour workshop will be followed by 30 minutes for discussion and Q&A.

Registration Information

This year’s events will be hosted on the Zoom platform. Registration is for all events in the Workshop Series; single event registration is not available.

$150 Supporting Fee: At this level, you are covering your fee for all 5 Workshop Series events and helping to subsidize the reduced fees paid by others who have more challenging financial circumstances.

$100 Our-Cost Fee: At this level, your fee fully covers the costs of you attending all 5 events in the Workshop Series.

$50 Subsidized Fee*: At this level, your fee for all 5 events is subsidized by the scholarship fund provided by BARIN Supporters and through the additional fees paid by those selecting a Supporting Level Fee.

*We do not want financial hardship to be a barrier to participation. Please email us at bostonreggioinspiredstudygroup@gmail.com if you would like to attend the Workshop Series, but cannot pay one of the fees outlined above.