2024 RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM - CALL FOR PAPERS

Symposium purpose/vision:

Reggio Emilia Australia Information Exchange (REAIE) advocates the perspective of the teacher as a researcher and planning as a process of educational research.

Research is often seen as an academic pursuit, undertaken by level academics, or researchers at university level. In Reggio Emilia:

Research represents one of the essential dimensions of the life of children and adults alike, a knowledge-building tension that must be recognised and valued. 

Shared research between adults and children is a priority practice of everyday life, an existential and ethical approach necessary for interpreting the complexity of the world, of phenomena, of systems of co-existence, and is a powerful instrument of renewal in education. 

Research made visible by means of the documentation builds learning, reformulates knowledge, underlies professional quality, and is proposed at the national and international levels as an element of pedagogical innovation. ([ICPIMRE], 2010, pp. 11-12). 

REAIE’s intention in hosting the Research Symposium is to highlight the significant value of research within the educational project of Reggio Emilia in the day to day lives of children and educators. The 2024 Research Symposium will be an online initiative i.e., ALL sessions will be shared as pre-recorded content.

The REAIE Research Symposium serves as a forum to make visible the research of both beginning researchers, keen to share their work with a supportive audience to further deepen their engagement in research alongside experienced academics wishing to share their most recent work to further ‘grow’ and support the education profession.

REAIE’s vision is to ensure that each presentation clearly articulates and makes reference to the system of values and principles which give shape to the Reggio Emilia Approach®. In doing so, we seek to honour our responsibility to advocate for and promote these values within Australian contexts and give visibility to the Australian research community seeking to deepen understanding of the educational project of Reggio Emilia within an Australian context.

REAIE invites applications from early childhood educators (working in kindergarten/preschool/long day care centres, early years of school settings), academics and students with the intention of representing the diversity of educational settings to be found within our Australian context.

Papers may explore:

• Graphic Languages making visible the research undertaken by children in their everyday experiences.
• The potential of children’s graphic languages to provide a window into thinking and theory making.
• Understanding the mark making strategies of non verbal children.
• The possibilities for building knowledge, encountering ideas and extending relationships through the graphic languages.
• The aesthetic context, curating environments which give visibility to the graphic languages.
• The many ways children use graphic languages to communicate with each other and make sense of the world around them.

All papers will be put through a blind review process and successful applications may also be asked to:

• Publish in the REAIE Challenge
• Share presentation as a potential future webinar.

References:

Istituzione of the Municipality of Reggio Emilia. (2010). Indications: Preschools and Infant Toddler Centres of the Municipality of Reggio Emilia, Italy: Reggio Children.