Preschool Teachers Journey to Italy to Deepen Instructional Quality for Students

The St. Margaret’s Early Childhood Development Center (Preschool) teaching team is traveling to Italy this summer to study more closely the world-renowned Reggio Emilia approach for early childhood education, with which the preschool curriculum is closely aligned. This unique professional learning experience is being funded by a generous St. Margaret’s preschool parent who believes deeply in the St. Margaret’s educational philosophy.

St. Margaret’s Preschool Director Cris Lozon will attend the Fourth Annual Reggio Emilia International Summer School at the Loris Malaguzzi International Centre with her team, including Assistant Director Tammy Pipitone, classroom teachers Lore Fredette, Debbie Herrera, and Isabela Valle, art teacher Lillian Sauceda-Whitney, and Motor Development Specialist Shelley Harmon. The St. Margaret’s team will engage in a week of lectures by renowned experts, seminars, observation of Reggio schools, and study with colleagues from different contexts, cultures and experiences.

“This is an extraordinary professional development opportunity and learning experience for our teachers that supports our ongoing efforts to advance and innovate our programs, including working among educational thought-leaders and those from different cultures from around the globe. This speaks directly to our strategic planning work, as well as our focus on service learning and cultural competency skill development. We are sincerely grateful for this very meaningful gift to our early education program,” said Head of School Will Moseley.

Founded in its namesake Northern Italy town by educator Loris Malaguzzi, the Reggio Emilia approach is known for its quality and care in early childhood education and practices recognizing the child as an active learner, taking charge of his or her own inquiry, learning and understanding. The philosophy of Reggio schools is based on research and theory from early childhood thought leaders John Dewey, Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky, also the foundation for the St. Margaret’s Preschool curriculum.

Reggio schools focus heavily on the learning environment, calling it the “third teacher,” explains Dr. Lozon. “Designing the learning environment appropriately invites children to explore and inquire. One of our ongoing strategic goals in the Preschool is to improve the environment to better meet the current needs of our young learners. This year, we put together a live prototype classroom in Mrs. Fredette’s class, and we are reviewing and assessing its successes and opportunities to accommodate different learners.”

Allowing a student to follow his or her natural curiosity, appropriate and engaging learning environments provide many opportunities to provoke interest, thought, inquiry and learning. Careful observation of the child is essential to study and truly understand what they are saying and thinking. Teachers heavily rely on documentation of words, ideas, art and play.

“The provisions for new learning opportunities come from provocations,” said Dr. Lozon. “Provocations can be as simple as a teacher setting up a storybook with small toys so children can reenact the book to placing simple shells, leaves or bugs on a tray so children can investigate their properties.”

While St. Margaret’s Preschool already follows much of the Reggio practices, in the school’s spirit of continual growth and innovation, the trip is a tremendous professional growth and learning opportunity for the community of preschool teachers to collaborate and bring back new learning and understanding to the preschool classroom.

“We want to dive deeper into understanding the child, and how to facilitate their learning through documentation, collaboration among educators, and understanding on the emphasis of community for young learners,” said Dr. Lozon. “In Reggio Emilia, the whole town serves as the preschool classroom. Similarly at St. Margaret’s, we envision the whole campus and school community serving as the classroom for our youngest learners.

“The work of Reggio is never ending. Their experts continue to assess and redefine their practices as new research and information comes out, including brain research and other developmental studies,” said Dr. Lozon. “Harvard University scholars are currently studying how Reggio educators uniquely study and document student learning in the preschool years. This ongoing study and improvement is exciting to us as well, and we know this experience is going to bring new energy and practices back to St. Margaret’s for our students.”

Much like the Preschool’s Outdoor Classroom, Reggio schools also emphasize teaching nature and exposing students to many elements around nature. Through a strategic plan innovation grant, the Preschool teachers will spend part of their summer after they return from Italy collaborating to create a new Outdoor Classroom curriculum emphasizing literacy, mathematics, art, physical development and service.