Curriculum Group Project
An Educator's Guide
The Reggio Emilia Approach
Introduction to Reggio Emilia
The Reggio Emilia approach emerged through the work of Loris Malaguzzi and is grounded in the belief that each child is unique and expresses themselves through diverse modes of communication. The approach foregrounds children's rights and integrates values of diversity and inclusion within a strongly democratic framework. It emphasises the centrality of relationships, social connections, and community participation, adopting a "village-style" model that actively engages children, families, and the broader community in the learning process (Early Childhood Ireland, n.d., p. 1).
The Reggio Emilia approach-inspired early childhood education offers an alternative pedagogical approach to learning. In contrast to more traditional early learning environments, the curriculum is flexible, emergent, and primarily shaped by the interests, inquiries, and experiences of individual children (Early Childhood Australia, 2022).
Art in Reggio Emilia
In the Reggio Emilia approach, art education is positioned as a central component of children's knowledge construction, with aesthetic experience understood as a catalyst that activates and enriches the learning process (Manera, 2022, para. 1). The Atelier — a specialised environment dedicated to aesthetic education and the exploration of multiple artistic languages and techniques — sits at the heart of this philosophy (Mullen, n.d., para. 1).
Loris Malaguzzi introduced the Atelier in the 1960s as a distinctive space that provides a rich context for observing and researching children's thinking processes, including the ways in which they interpret their emerging understandings of the world and construct imaginative, provisional theories (Yu, 2024, p. 8).
The Atelier is intentionally integrated with other learning environments and is designed to foster children's agency by enabling the exploration of visual and expressive languages in dynamic interaction with verbal, bodily, and logical forms of expression — reflecting the concept of the hundred languages of children, which recognises the diverse and interconnected ways children construct and communicate meaning (Filippo, 2020, p. 20).
The Atelierista
Within the Reggio Emilia approach, the atelierista is traditionally a specialised educator with a strong background in the visual arts. Their role is not simply to "teach art," but to collaborate pedagogically, provoke thinking, and deepen inquiry through materials, media, and aesthetic experiences. The atelierista collaborates closely with children, families, and educators to facilitate engagement in learning projects that foreground the use of visual arts materials and processes (Vecchi, 2010, as cited in Lindsay, 2017, p. 82). Together, they engage in sustained, long-term projects, exploring and experimenting with a diverse range of creative media (Inspirations Nurseries & Forest Schools, 2023, para. 1).
In many contemporary early childhood settings — including those in Australia — it is not always feasible to employ a dedicated atelierista (Lindsay, 2017, p. 42). As a result, educators often adopt atelierista-inspired practices within their existing roles. This means:
- Curating rich, open-ended materials (e.g., loose parts, natural resources, varied media)
- Supporting children's symbolic expression across multiple languages (drawing, sculpture, movement, music)
- Engaging in sustained observation and documentation of creative processes
- Collaborating with colleagues to interpret and extend children's thinking (Mullen, n.d., para. 3)
Assessment, Documentation, Planning & Reflection
Within the Reggio Emilia approach, assessment, documentation, planning, and reflection are deeply interconnected processes that function as tools for understanding and extending children's learning — rather than measuring predetermined outcomes.
Assessment
Assessment is grounded in intentional and sustained observation embedded within everyday interactions. Educators closely observe children in context, paying attention to how they think, communicate, problem-solve, and relate to others, as well as how they engage with materials and experiences (AGDE, 2022, p. 28). Through this, educators seek to understand not only what children do, but how and why they approach learning in particular ways (Petitpas & Buchanan, 2022, para. 4). Assessment thus becomes a dynamic process where educators continuously interpret children's actions and responses to make informed judgements, identify opportunities to extend thinking, and develop a curriculum that meaningfully resonates with children's interests, experiences, and ways of knowing (Brown, 2024, para. 12).
Documentation
A key feature of documentation within the Reggio Emilia approach is its role in making learning visible and shared, rather than private. Documentation becomes a public and collaborative process when it is shared with children, families, and educators, fostering collective reflection and dialogue (Sisson & Whitington, 2017, p. 11). It is also understood as a democratic tool, grounded in values of transparency and advocacy — historically emerging within the Reggio Emilia educational project to communicate young children's capabilities to the wider community. In this sense, documentation has evolved into a powerful mechanism for supporting socially just approaches to education (Gobby, 2022, p. 137).
Children's active involvement in documentation enables them to reflect on their learning in the moment. As documentation is made visible, children are able to revisit and narrate their learning experiences, sharing these with others and inviting multiple perspectives. This collaborative process supports deeper meaning-making and provides a foundation for extending inquiry and further learning (Sisson & Whitington, 2017, p. 10).
Planning Cycle — Progettazione
The planning cycle within the Reggio Emilia approach is emergent and responsive, often conceptualised as progettazione (Bonello et al., 2025, p. 2). This reflects a commitment to teaching that does not rely on a fixed or prescribed curriculum; rather, it involves "building experiences" that evolve through the dynamic relationships between theory and practice, child and teacher, teacher and learning, and the broader community (Strozzi, 2019, p. 6). Curriculum is co-constructed through children's interests, inquiries, and evolving theories — positioning learning as a collaborative and interpretive process rather than the delivery of predetermined content (Bonello et al., 2025, p. 2).
When children show sustained interest in shadows during outdoor play, educators observe and document this interest, then begin to explore it alongside the children. Initial experiences may involve tracing shadows, experimenting with light sources, or using overhead projectors. As children pose questions — "Why does our shadow change size? Where did it go?" — educators introduce new materials and provocations such as torches, translucent objects, or digital tools to deepen inquiry (Hargraves, 2020, para. 6–11).
Reflection
Reflection within the Reggio Emilia approach is continuous and collaborative, closely interconnected with documentation, as educators revisit and reinterpret learning episodes to inform future experiences and curriculum decisions (ACECQA, 2016, p. 2). Critical reflection extends beyond simply describing what occurred — it involves analysing underlying assumptions, questioning pedagogical decisions, and considering multiple perspectives, including those of children, colleagues, and families (What is critical reflection?, n.d., p. 2). Educators engage in strategies such as revisiting documentation panels, analysing transcripts of children's conversations, and engaging in reflective dialogue during team meetings (ACECQA, 2024, p. 2).
Over time, these critical reflection practices shape educators' day-to-day decision-making. Reflection becomes an ongoing cycle, where insights gained from documentation and dialogue inform future planning, interactions, and curriculum design (ACECQA, 2018, pp. 1–2). This continuous process ensures that teaching remains dynamic, responsive, and aligned with children's evolving interests and learning trajectories, while also supporting sustained professional growth (AITSL, n.d., para. 2).
Environment as the Third Teacher
Provocations define the Reggio Emilia approach as educators create spaces that attract the child's natural curiosity — provoking their engagement through carefully curated materials and spaces that attract and challenge the child (Belogovsky & Daly, 2015, p. 5). In this way, the environment becomes the 'third teacher', with educators acting as facilitators and partners of learning within the dynamics of the classroom. Enabling stimulating learning environments inspired by the child's interests as the curriculum (ECA, 2023, para. 1–4).
Educators focus on making the environment belong to the child — encouraging the bringing-in of natural materials, current interests from home, and carefully displaying children's work as a celebration of the child and their learning to the community (ECA, 2023, para. 4–7).
A Reggio Emilia Pre-school Project
Reggio Emilia is much more than a single provocation. Rather, the approach is a project-based process that promotes children's self-initiated learning and sustained shared thinking.
To better understand how the Reggio Emilia approach unfolds over time, we can look at an example taken from Our Learning Journey by Tan (2023), in which a pre-school class explores a topic of inquiry — starting with 'Creepy Crawlies' observed in the outdoor environment.
Identify the Interest
The educator identifies the children's interest, observing their exploration of insects in their playground. Utilising the image of the child as capable and curious learners — already engaging with the natural environment — to inspire the beginning of a project (ECA, 2023, para. 8; Tan, 2023, para. 19–20).
Empower the Interest
The educator empowers children's interest by facilitating their continued learning on the topic, providing books and images for further investigation (Tan 2023, para. 21).
Deepen Inquiry
The topic was revisited in increasing depth as interest continued, with open-ended provocations for children to explore of their own volition — always following the children's line of inquiry (Tan 2023, para. 21).
Record and Elevate Children's Voices
Children's voices and learning were recorded and elevated, celebrating their sustained shared thinking as the educator acts as the provocateur and recorder of learning — creating opportunities through questioning and open discussion. The children conversed on the similarities and differences of moths and butterflies using a collective process of scientific inquiry (Tan 2023, para. 23).
Express Through Art
Theoretical learning was processed through hands-on creative processes. Here, children made their own wings to be worn in play — engaging with the feeling of becoming a butterfly through a two-step creative process that encourages the outward expression of their learning (Tan 2023, para. 24).
Role of the Educator
As the 'Creepy Crawlies' project demonstrates, the role of the educator in the Reggio Emilia approach is not to impart knowledge, but rather to act as co-learner and researcher — guiding children through the processes of inquiry towards co-constructing knowledge and understanding (Tan, 2023, para. 19–24; The Education Hub, 2020, para. 6).
Educators rely on observation to respond to children and facilitate their learning by providing materials, creating provocation instances, using open-ended questioning, and carefully manipulating the environment (ECA, 2023, para. 5–6, 8). They critically reflect on the learning environment and how it engages children through carefully constructed spaces with potential for open-ended play — using natural materials and a variety of quality resources to support the hundred languages of children (The Education Hub, 2020, para. 4–5).
Adapting the space to meet children's natural curiosity and documenting how children interact with it — as pedagogical documentation that can be co-created with children as they take ownership of their learning journeys (The Education Hub, 2020, para. 7). These practices align with the strong image of the child that lies central to the Reggio Emilia approach: viewing the child as a capable and competent unique individual that merely needs opportunities for expression and exploration, contextualised through their communities and didactic relationships (ECA, 2023, para. 12).
Critique: Strengths and Weaknesses
The Reggio Emilia Approach (REA) focuses on child-led, experiential learning and the view of children as active constructors of knowledge, which aligns with pragmatism as an educational philosophy (Heckman et al., 2018, p. 5). As Dewey emphasises, knowledge emerges through the interaction between the individual child and their social environment, rather than through abstract or predetermined content (Gutek, 2014, p. 78). However, its emergent curriculum may lead to variability in implementation and challenges in ensuring consistency and progression across learning contexts (Heckman et al., 2018, p. 6). While REA significantly supports children's social-emotional development and creativity, research findings highlight limitations in measurable cognitive outcomes — with few consistent statistically significant improvements associated with REA when compared to other preschool systems (Heckman et al., 2018, p. 26). This reflects a tension between open-ended, child-led learning and the increasing policy demand for standardised, measurable outcomes (Guo & Rouse, 2025, p. 73). Educators also face challenges balancing documentation, compliance requirements, parental expectations, and genuine inquiry-based learning, which may dilute the core principles of the approach (Guo & Rouse, 2025, pp. 59–60).
There are also practical and structural constraints, particularly regarding material and human resources. Effective implementation depends on rich learning environments, specialised staff (e.g., atelieristas), and time for documentation and collaboration (Heckman et al., 2018, p. 11). Studies report limited access to resources, lack of institutional support, and even resistance among educators, which can hinder meaningful application — making the approach difficult to sustain, especially in systems with funding or staffing limitations (Guo & Rouse, 2025, p. 73).
One key strength identified in the research is the reconceptualisation of quality as meaning-making, arguing that quality in early childhood is "subjective, value-based, and culturally constructed" (Giamminuti, 2019, p. 3). However, an important critique relates to the high level of abstraction in the approach. Concepts such as "pedagogical documentation," "meaning-making," and "communities of learners" are theoretically rich but can be difficult for educators to interpret and implement consistently (Giamminuti, 2019, pp. 36–38). Although documentation is described as a process of making learning visible and fostering dialogue, interpretation remains subjective and shaped by the educator — raising concerns about bias, inconsistency, and the reliability of documentation as an assessment tool (Guo & Rouse, 2025, p. 75).
Connection with NQS and EYLF
In Reggio, children are viewed as co-constructors of knowledge, which closely reflects the EYLF principle that children have agency and should be involved in decision-making about their learning. Similarly, REA's emphasis on relationships, collaboration, and community aligns with EYLF's focus on belonging, being, and becoming — particularly in fostering identity, connection, and active participation in social contexts (AGDE, 2022, pp. 20–24).
There is also clear alignment with the NQS, particularly in Quality Area 1 (Educational Program and Practice). REA's project-based, inquiry-driven learning reflects the NQS expectation for programs that are responsive to children's interests and promote critical thinking. The strong use of pedagogical documentation in Reggio also aligns with assessment and planning requirements in both NQS and EYLF, as it supports reflection, intentional teaching, and visibility of learning processes (ACECQA, 2019).
REA further connects with Quality Area 5 (Relationships with Children) and Quality Area 6 (Collaborative Partnerships with Families and Communities). Its emphasis on democratic participation, communication, and shared learning mirrors the NQS focus on respectful relationships and family engagement. The idea of schools as "communities of learners" is consistent with both frameworks' recognition of the social and cultural context of learning (ACECQA, 2017, pp. 140–150).
Quiz Activity
Test Your Knowledge
Scan the QR code or click the link below to participate in the interactive quiz on the Reggio Emilia approach.
Open Quiz → menti.com/alchvwt7abio
References
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