by Rie Gilsdorf and Christy Spencer
Rie Algeo Gilsdorf, MS, MA, has broad experience as a principal, arts administrator, instructional coach, teacher of science and dance and parent in many settings, including the Reggio-inspired programs of Portland’s Opal School and The Blake School in Minneapolis. Rie is a past Board Co-Chair and Civic Engagement Committee Chair of the Reggio-Inspired Network of Minnesota and current member of its Resource Development Committee. She now provides racial equity seminars, coaching and consulting through Embody Equity (https://www.embodyequity.com).
Christy Spencer, MA is inspired by children’s curiosities and perspectives, and roots her practices in relationships, deep listening, designing dynamic learning environments, observation and pedagogical documentation. Christy has worked in various Reggio-inspired contexts, including The Blake School, Boulder Journey School and the Minnesota Children’s Museum. She has been a RINM Board and committee member. Current professional interests encompass exploring the intersection of design thinking and the Educational Project of Reggio Emilia, mindfulness practices, anti-racist theory, neuroscience around empathy and humanitarian projects focusing on children’s rights.
In Part One of “Getting to Belonging,” (in the Spring 2023 issue) we acknowledged that conversations about differences, especially differences across race and culture, are apt to fall into well-worn patterns. We also noted that, unless all stakeholders have agency, entrenched habits of thought and practice inhibit the development of greater consciousness around curriculum, conflict and the role of the teacher. In Part One we also began to uncover ways in which a Reggio-inspired design process invites adults to reframe ambiguity as an opportunity to question the status quo, including the concept of developmental appropriateness. In this article we examine how we might reimagine mindsets and practices, specifically curriculum, communication and the image of the teacher.
Embracing Negotiated Learning
In Reggio Emilia, progettazione refers to a key principle: negotiated, co-constructed curriculum. This negotiated curriculum typically emerges in cycles of inquiry, as each investigation generates many new questions. The progettazione design process is a way to manage ambiguities that arise when there is no predetermined curriculum or fixed destination. In order for there to be negotiation, the teacher holds space for discourse by maintaining an attitude of listening and valuing broad participation. “This discourse mindset carries over into teachers talking to parents, to the public, and all possible relations [between children, teachers, parents, and the public],” (Foreman and Fyfe, 2012).
Foreman and Fyfe further define discourse: “Discourse connotes a deep desire to understand each others’ words. Discourse is more than talking. Discourse connotes a more reflective study of what is being said, a struggle to understand, in which speakers constructively confront each other, experience conflict, and seek footing in a constant shift of perspectives,” (2012).
Appreciating Constructive Confrontation and Conflict
In our experience in American early education contexts, the ideas of “confrontation” and “conflict” are typically viewed as problematic. In response to individualistic cultural norms, educators often look for and emphasize commonalities in an attempt to create communities of belonging – fearing the repercussions of constructive confrontation (Hofstede, 2023). This reduces the richness and vibrancy of a diverse group to a generic uniformity.
If we truly “desire to understand each others’ words,” we need to listen not only for commonalities but also for differences. Activating Open Mind, the first step in the design process we outlined in Part One, requires listening to the experiences of all stakeholders, specifically listening for “disconfirming facts,” those ideas and experiences that do not align with the experiences of the listener (Scharmer, 2018). Listening this way grants everyone agency. Counter-intuitively, leaning into understanding differences allows us to move from contrived uniformity to valuing the vibrancy of the collective.
A conversation with the goal of winning an argument is a debate; a conversation that embraces the give and take of dynamic tension is discourse. An argumentative stance can produce the feelings of a fight: cheeks flushed, heart racing, muscles tensed. When conversations are approached with curiosity rather than defensiveness, there is potential for change. To have space for curiosity, there needs to be space for pause–whether it’s a momentary pause to get your bearings when something unexpected or jarring transpires or a longer reflective pause to consider the context. Embracing dynamic tension means embracing ambiguity. Stepping into this way of being, we lay the foundation for civil discourse, civic participation and advocacy, and belonging. In the words of Susie Wise, “No community can thrive without understanding how to work with conflict and disagreement,” (2022).
Supporting Teachers as Protagonists
Reggio-inspired practice holds an image of the child as curious, competent and desiring to be in relationship. In order to enact this view of the child as a competent protagonist, we need to reconsider the image of the teacher. A persistent traditional view of the teacher holds that teachers’ main role is to deliver predetermined curriculum in engaging ways. In this deficit model, children are empty vessels whose heads are to be filled by teachers.
The deficit model denies agency of both teachers and children and undermines negotiated learning. This can lead to a culture of cynicism and exhaustion as the promise of each formerly shiny new curriculum gives way to the next. Shallow levels of understanding and practice, change fatigue and defeat may result in teachers maintaining a tight grasp of familiar mindsets and practices. Inquiry, by contrast, is iterative by nature as each question generates more questions. This is the mindset of a researcher. There is limitless potential for deep understanding and practice.
Indeed, Professor Carolyn Edwards proposes that alongside children, “teachers are likewise protagonists,” (2012). Tiziana Filipini has characterized the role of the teacher in Reggio as “provoker of occasions, on the one hand, and co-actor in discoveries on the other,” (Edwards, 2012). This combination of teacher as protagonist, provoker and co-actor is encapsulated in the term “teacher as researcher.”
This brings us to the second and third design steps, Embracing Open Heart and Cultivating Open Will (Scharmer, 2018). Embracing Open Heart requires redirecting the voice of cynicism by quieting the paralyzing inner critic. To do this, we must come back to a sense of curiosity that activates empathy. Cultivating Open Will necessitates the letting go of being an expert and allowing new possibilities to arise, including talking to children about race.
When we embrace negotiated learning with its ambiguity and dynamic tensions, we can focus on nurturing a group construction of understanding, rooted in a pedagogy of listening. By doing so, we increase the possibility of designing equitable learning environments. In the next article we will examine how these practices engender multiple perspectives that broaden the community’s racial and cultural consciousness.
Resources
Edwards, Carolyn. (2012) “Teacher and Learner, Partner and Guide: The role of the Teacher.” In The Hundred Languages of Children: The Reggio Emilia Experience in Transformation, 3rd ed. C. Edwards, L. Gandini and George Forman, Editors. Praeger.
Foreman, George, and Brenda Fyfe. (2012) “Negotiated Learning through Design, Documentation, and Discourse.” In The Hundred Languages of Children:The Reggio Emilia Experience in Transformation, 3rd ed. C. Edwards, L. Gandini and George Forman, Editors. Praeger.
Hofstede, Geert. “Country Comparison Tool.” Hofstede Insights, https://www.hofstede-insights.com/country-comparison-tool?countries=united+states . Accessed 8/17/2023
Scharmer, Otto. (2018) The Essentials of Theory U: Core Principles and Applications. BK, Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc., a BK Business Book.
Wise, Susie. (2022). Design for Belonging: How to Build Inclusion and Collaboration in Your Communities, A Stanford d.school guide. Ten Speed Press.
