في حوار مع ريجيو إيميليا

by Carlina Rinaldi, علي عاشور الجعفر (Translator), محمد رضا جوهر (Revision)

إن التجربة التي أرويها هنا بتسلسل زمني تجربة ثرية شهدت على بعد نظر الحكومة المحلية في بلدةٍ إقليمية متوسطة، بلدية ريجيو إيميليا، التي كانت مستعدة وقادرة على التعامل مع واحدة من أكثر المهام "السياسية" -أي: المتعلقة بالسياسة- التي يمكن لمجتمع ما أن ينجزها: تطوير التعليم الجيد لمواطنيها، بدءاً من الأطفال، وتقديمه للجميع. وهو عمل يمثل تحدياً لأنه، كما قال لوريس مالاجوزي، ينطوي ضمنياً في هذه الرؤية على أنه "لا يمكن لأي طفل في ريجيو إيميليا أن يكون بخير إذا كان هناك أطفال في العالم يعانون" وأن "حقوق أطفال ريجيو يجب أن تكون حقوق الأطفال الآخرين؛ هذا هو البعد القيمي لإنسانية أكثر اكتمالاً".

وهكذا، على مر السنين، تم إنشاء دور الحضانة ومراكز الأطفال الرضع، وتم إنشاء شركة ريجيو للأطفال، ثم مبرة ريجيو للأطفال التي يرتكز ميثاق قيمها على "الإيمان بالتعليم الجيد باعتباره الأداة الأولى لمهمة خلق مجتمع ديموقراطي وشامل يستشرف مواطنته ومستقبله"؛ ميثاق "قادر على توفير إمكانية العمل بشكل إستراتيجي في حالات الطوارئ التعليمية العصرية".

هناك الكثير من التحديات الجديدة في عالمنا العصري. إن كلمات، نعتز بها، مثل: "البحث" و"التعليم الجيد" لا تعني لنا "التدريب على المنافسة"؛ بل تعني التعليم من أجل الإصغاء والترابط والتعلم التعاوني؛ وتعني الاندماج والتضامن بين البشر وجميع الكائنات الحية للاهتمام بالطبيعة لضمان استدامة مواردها.

Genres: Education, Nonfiction

352 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Stuart Macalpine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have to confess to a bit of an 'Edu-romance' with Reggio Emilia and Carla Rinaldi at the moment, but just as with new love the world seems brighter, fresher and clearer, so too Carla Rinaldi's writings seem imbued with a special light (no doubt care of the Light Atelier).

Whilst experts from Piaget to Dewey have singularly failed to create anything lasting in terms of educational communities of practice directly based on their ideas (they exist through influence rather than construction) Reggio shares with Kurt Hahn a wisdom born of knowing children and communities well. They go beyond Hahn in some respects in the depth of their thought. Hahn was a brilliant imitator and a superb reader of cultural movements, but the community of Reggio shows you how rich thought and practice can be if there is strong and provocative external dialogue (lasting engagements with Bruner, Piaget etc.) combined with intense internal, child centred dialogue. I have not seen a better model of inclusive education.

This particular text is special as it seems to get to the core dialogues; the text is dense with meaning and implication. There is a lifetime's worth of thinking for the reader, and yet you can access this very quickly. A bit like a helicopter flight over a mountain range it would take a lifetime to climb and get to know. A similar sense of the scale of the achievement is what lingers... and a probably quite foolish desire to climb every peak.

[Shelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a teacher I had who introduced me to the Reggio Emilia schools and their methods. This is a compilation of her speeches and written pieces as well as interviews with her that I find extremely thought provoking and encouraging.

One of my favorite pieces is "The Courage for Utopia" where she urges us to realize how much the problems that exist in education are mostly issues of a lack of imagination and courage. It is true that it is a heck of a lot easier to risk less by expecting little, but look where that has gotten us!

[Grace Ho · Rating 3 out of 5]

We all know that Reggio Emilia inspired by socio-constructive theory of Vygotsky, a Russian theorist. This philosophy is famous for 'the image of the child' that tells how the child develops his relationships with the world. That circle of relationship, children, parents, teachers, and wider community is focused. Also, school is a learning space that enhances children's development. Together, school-family relationship helps build values and ways of educating. For the first half of the book, Carlina Rinaldi has displayed how the issues in educating are family and its changes. It requires educators to reflect on some sample questions such as:
"How has family structure changed recently?
Who holds the authority (in the family)?
What is authority in the family of today? Authoritarian or Authoritative? or something else?"

In sum, I have to admit that educating is a difficult job as teachers have to reflect on our taboos, silences, hypocrisies, fears, real feelings and emotions about children and ourselves.

I haven't finished the rest of the book which focuses on research and interview with some researchers.
Given 3 stars for the book as it isn't really interesting for the first few chapters.

[Marissa Sobel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great insights from one of the greatest educational theorists.

[Stef Rozitis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book on the whole. As I read it I often wanted to argue with Rinaldi, especially about gender and about some of her more dogmatic pronouncements. But the ending of the book makes it clear it is not intended to be a book of answers, but a book encouraging more genuine questioning.

We each find, develop and requestion our own answers as the educators of Reggio Emilia did. We don't try to recreate their achievement but it is valuable to read about their history, their response to their context and the thinking behind it. Much of what Rinaldi claims about capable children, active communities, justice and resepct for the profession I resounded with.

She ends by urging us not to neglect our dreams...throughout she is passionate and almost poetic in how she expresses herself.

I am definitely glad I read this.