A marketplace of possibilities: exploring the principles of Reggio Emilia

Date: Saturday 7 September 2019

Time: 8.30am - 3.00pm

Venue: St Peter's Girls' ELC

Category: Event

Morning tea and lunch are included in your registration

Registrations have now closed

Program Description

Please join us for a day of rich dialogue and collegiality as we explore the hundred languages through materials and spaces.

Participants will have the opportunity to attend four workshops. The workshops will cover the following streams: documentation, digital, cultural, ecological, and materials. The workshops will allow participants to imagine new possibilities and build confidence working with different materials and spaces.

Workshops

Documentation

A Documentation Centre – a place for shared dialogue and research

Based on the notion that documentation takes many forms and there is no right or wrong way of doing, we will discuss the importance of creating a place and giving time for shared documentation. What can we learn from each other and from our previous documentation? We will share the possibilities around shared documentation and the concept of creating a Documentation Centre as a place of research.

Documentation, an act of living and learning together

Documentation is a complex term that is often loaded with questions, emotions and values as well as a little trepidation. The way we understand this term has a profound effect on the way we use it and live it in our daily lives to make the children we work with visible as competent and inspirational learners. When we embrace documentation as a living, changing, fluid process of deep listening, deep reflection and deep thinking, it leads us to move beyond the surface level to what lies deeper and engage in the challenge and joy of pedagogical research together.

Digital

Digital Landscapes: Invitations for the possible

Children encounter technology every day. Whether it be at home, in the community or at school. Schools have a responsibility to recognise children as citizens in digital contexts and that young children are active in their communities now and in the future. Embracing a context where children have opportunities to move beyond consumers and become creators of and with technology. Contexts where digital is not just a tool but an amplifier of knowledge. The digital doesn’t dominate the environment, but rather amplifies the possibilities for children to research and represent.

Discovering the digital through the lens of a researcher

It can be difficult to know where to start with digital technologies and daunting as you discover all the things you do not know about them. Paradoxically – this is also the very thing that can make them so much fun to work with! Join in a digital encounter, that sparks your desire to approach technology with an attitude of research, as we unearth the connective and expansive power of digital materials.

Cultural

Weaving a Learning Community 

There is no doubt Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures are high on the radar in education. The Early Years Learning Framework and the Australian Curriculum require us to ‘teach’ it. But where do we start? How do we do this in a meaningful way? We are early on in our reconciliation journey in our community at St Peter’s College. You are invited to learn from our mistakes and struggles and explore the wonderful possibilities that come with learning about the oldest living culture in the world.

The hundred languages as a vehicle for embedding Kaurna culture and language in everyday life

Malaguzzi gave us the metaphor of the hundred languages to energise us to discover every child’s unique way of expressing their intellect, creativity and passions. This workshop will demonstrate how learning Kaurna language and culture can become authentically and joyfully embraced cross the learning community through the hundred languages, including digital, verbal, loose parts, graphic and clay.

Dialogue with materials

The Atelier – A symphony of languages

The Atelier will host a network of experiences inspired and guided by the design process and the documentation. The space will be a living workshop where we are able to create a bridge of expressive languages to inspire and support creative learning processes. We invite you to create your pathways of imagination, creation and communication through the hundred languages and the potential of spaces and materials.

Connection through materials in nature

Claire Warden – ‘If we really want children to thrive, we need to let their connection to nature nurture them.’

Learning with and within nature presents possibilities to comprehend what we cannot see. We begin to understand the impact that we have on our natural environment and the opportunities that are presented by utilising sustainable resources. What narratives could be developed by sticks, rocks, natural fibres, leaves, seed pods etc?

‘To perceive the invisible means to build the visible better.’ – Paola Strozzi

Ecological

An Encounter with Ferguson Park : Transformation, connection and new ways of knowing country.

Building an ecological and cultural identity in relationship with our land asks us to develop a greater awareness of the perspective of others and to gain new ways of knowing that can support a shared understanding. In this encounter we will explore country through the lens of Kaurna culture and language.

Relationships with Nature: Connecting Community

Exploring our park on a daily basis has become a ritual across our centre. You will experience the way in which this ritual has unfolded on a practical level and hear stories of how we have created community through these shared experiences. The group will have the opportunity to go into the park and hear first hand how this encounter has provided students , educators and parents with shared understandings and the significance of our journey over time.

The world through DANCE

Breathe, listen, see, feel.

The enigma of the world is ours to discover. It is our inspiration, it’s our canvas. It is an endless place to see. Through the language of dance this enigma will be explored. We will listen to ourselves, each other and the world within our movement. We will feel our heart beats and the rhythm of the world it breathes. See through the gaze of the child and let the language of dance inspire and drive your creative passion. The voice of the land will join us in a dance and connect us.

Program
Registration and welcome: 8.30-9.15am
Opening address, Caterina Pennestri, Atelierista: 9.15-9.45am
Morning tea
Choose your workshop: 10.15am-midday
Lunch
Choose your workshop: 1.00-2.45pm

* All prices include GST.