Reflections on First Encounters: “If the Eye Jumps Over the Wall”
Patti Loftus
Patti Loftus B.A., M.A.,  is a retired early childhood teacher whose career included twenty-eight years in the Pre-K program at Blake School (Minnesota.) She’s been interested in the Reggio approach since 1992 and has served as a RINM Board member. She’s currently a RINM Communications Committee member.

For decades, academics, artists, architects and civic leaders from around the world have participated in study tours convened by Reggio Children. How and why does the Reggio educational project resonate with such a diverse group and what inspires folks to move beyond initial interest (even infatuation) toward a deeper understanding?

Initial Ideas
This article is a reflection on first encounters with Reggio ideas from varied perspectives. I reached out to a group of educators from Blake School who recently participated in a five-day study tour in Reggio Emilia. In addition, I contacted others who have encountered Reggio ideas, some of whom did so decades ago. A few in this second group have never participated in a study tour while others have done so multiple times.

Some have made (or hope to make) substantial changes in their work, even upending it. As one teacher described with enthusiasm, “I’m rethinking everything!” It’s as if they glimpsed another world, one that is familiar and at the same time completely different.

“If the Eye Jumps Over the Wall” was the original title of the first Hundred Languages exhibit. Sergio Spaggiari, former Director of the Istituzione Scuole e Nidi d' Infanzia Municipality of Reggio Emilia, said, “It is important to acquire the skill of going over walls, going beyond boundaries, seeing limits and passing through them…To be able to go over the wall means you can topple cultural paradigms that seem fixed. It means you can turn things on their head. It means you can start with fresh eyes.”

The Reggio educational philosophy is both appealing and challenging. In part, it is appealing because the city itself offers a beautiful backdrop to uniquely designed and organized schools. Teachers, pedagogistas and atelieristas work with children to offer unusual materials and surprising experiences to prompt unexpected subjects for study. One recent visitor noticed that “in the midst of a garden, the children focused on three invasive weeds growing out of the sidewalk,” which led to extended project work.

Reggio is also challenging, because the educational project is multi-faceted and inseparably woven into the city’s historical, civic and cultural context. While the Reggiani share their stories through publications and conferences, they resist marketing their approach as a curriculum. They do not promote their approach as the only way to work with children, instead they invite visitors to enter into a dialogue about values, theory and practice, a conversation that is now over 70 years old.

The existence of this newsletter and the twenty-six-year-old Reggio-Inspired Network of Minnesota (RINM) is evidence of the impact of Reggio in and around Minnesota. For years, numerous Minnesotans, and others who identify with the Network, have been encountering Reggio ideas primarily through local experiences, not study tours.

Responses and Perspectives
The first exposure to Reggio ideas for the people I contacted for this article included:

hearing about Reggio from a colleague;
happening upon a magazine article;
wandering into a session at a national conference;
visiting the classroom of a Reggio-inspired teacher;
hearing Loris Malaguzzi’s classic poem “The Hundred Languages;”
visiting one of Reggio Children’s traveling exhibits;
reading a book from Reggio;
being the parent of a child in a Reggio-inspired program;
participating in a parenting class with a Reggio-inspired teacher;
viewing documentation of children’s work;
seeing photographs of the environments or of children working with materials.

There were many on-ramps.

When I asked folks about their first responses to Reggio ideas, they easily recalled the occasion–“amazed,” “gobsmacked,” “overwhelmed,” “struck,” “wonder and delight.” It’s not surprising that first reactions are to what’s visible–the layout of the schools, the aesthetic environments, the unique materials and experiences presented to the children and the documented work of the children that makes their thinking visible. Some people noticed aspects that lie below the surface, for example, how key principles intertwine to connect and support thinking processes. “The level of deep and serious thinking that I encountered from the Italian educators about how to create schools that truly respect and support young children was like nothing I had ever experienced before.”

Those who participated in a study tour looked for and posed questions that emerged from their frames of reference: a musician looked for evidence of music in the schools; a tech specialist noticed their technology equipment and the ways in which it was being used; a teacher observed the multicultural nature of the population and wondered how the schools respond in culturally responsive ways; an art specialist responded with some relief that they do some skill instruction in Reggio, for example in teaching children how to attach pieces of clay. (This refuted the notion she’d had that everything in Reggio involved unhindered exploration of materials.) Another participant reflected, “I was most struck by its beginnings as a female-led anti-fascist movement and its commitment to equity and democratic advocacy.”

Each of us approach Reggio ideas with personal and particular curiosities. We come from varied contexts and, whether we’re aware of it or not, have frames of reference that affect what we notice and remember. Even when we acknowledge those perspectives, this awareness can be fleeting. If priorities in our teaching practice involve, for instance, behavior management or assessment, we may not realize the ways these preoccupations influence what we notice about Reggio and, without intention, what we may miss. Again, in Malaguzzi’s words: “To be able to go over the wall means you can topple cultural paradigms that seem fixed. It means you can turn things on their head. It means you can start with fresh eyes.”

Peter Moss writes about the larger educational concerns that are typical of leaders in the U.S. and U.K.: Does it work? Is it evidence-based? How much will it cost? How can we take it to scale? Moss notes that Reggio educators ask: Where does this lead? How can we build on this? What does this experience tell us about the children and their thinking? How does this connect with our stated values? What other perspectives might be helpful?

What Followed
Following their initial experiences with Reggio, folks consistently expressed their desire to talk with colleagues, to experiment with new materials and approaches, re-think their practice and examine the values behind that practice. They talked about incorporating Reggio ideas in their relationships with parents and the larger community.

As they reflected on their encounters with Reggio, they asked:

What are our (school’s) values for education?
How does the environment reflect those values?
What are the fundamental ideas and how can I use these ideas?
What can we do, what can we change?
How can we slow down to do richer work?
What is the central nature of the role of the atelierista?
What languages are we allowing children to communicate in?
What is the role of documentation for my school? What does it look like every day and who is doing it? What’s the objective in documentation – for the teachers? parents? broader audience?

In contrast to the notion that one must change their internal beliefs before their teaching practice will change, the opposite is also possible. Making a small change in teaching and then reflecting on it may lead to a significant shift in thinking. 

The Network as a support
All of the participants who shared their first encounters with Reggio acknowledged that the Reggio schools are only in Reggio Emilia. They realized that creating beautiful spaces and open-ended materials for children to explore can be a starting point for becoming a Reggio-inspired teacher or program. Experiences like conferences, study tours and workshops built around Reggio ideas end, and then participants return to their contexts. What happens when the eye jumps over the wall but the body remains on the other side?

The Reggio-Inspired Network of Minnesota doesn’t provide answers but is a flexible community composed of a wide variety of people with an interest in exploring and deepening their understandings of the Reggio approach. The Network provides resources and convenes opportunities for listening and talking with others about ideas, possibilities and practice. Deep insights are possible through reflection, particularly when in dialogue with others.

The Network, a 501 c3 for which there is no membership fee, is a hub of resources available to all. Throughout the year, the Network sponsors in-person and virtual events, most of which are free:

The Network makes available books published by Reggio Children and other books about the Reggio approach through the Debra Fish Library, a collection of the Saint Paul Public Library. Books can be checked out through any metro library. www.mnlinkgateway.org/

In addition, there are two annual educational scholarships available. More information can be found here.

First encounters with Reggio ideas are, for many, the catalyst to learn more about the approach and find ways to incorporate those ideas in their work with children and parents. Because the educational project in Reggio is complex and so different from U.S. educational paradigms, it requires ongoing awareness and effort to experiment, reflect, dialogue and experiment again. There are plenty of fellow travelers available as companions on that journey. The Reggio-Inspired Network of Minnesota is one place to find them.

Acknowledgements

Thank you to Tom Bedard, Joe Druskin, Joanne Esser, Jen Kalika, Kim Lane, Melanie Lowin, Taylor Rose, Lisa Small, Jeanne Vergeront, Mary Watson and others for responding to my questions and to Lani Shapiro for thinking with me.

Resources

Cameron, C. and Moss, P. (Eds.), (2020). Transforming Early Childhood in England: Towards a Democratic Education. UCL Press https://doi.org/10.14324/111.9781787357167

Edwards, C., Gandini, L., Forman, G. (Eds.), (2012). The Hundred Languages of Children: The Reggio Emilia Experiences in Transformation (3rd ed., p. 35). Praeger.

Giamminuti, S., Cagliari, P., Giudici, C., Strozzi, P. (Eds.), (2024). The Role of the Pedagogista in Reggio Emilia:Voices and Ideas for a Dialectic Educational Experience. Routledge.

Landi, L. and Pintus, A. (2022). “A Critical Approach to the Reggio Emilia Approach.” Open Access. https://iris.unimore.it/retrieve/1861203e-e021-42ee-b42a-d20195c206c9/216-713-1-PB.pdf

Spaggiari, S. (2004). “The path toward knowledge: The social, political and cultural context of the Reggio municipal infant-toddler center and preschool experience.” Innovations in Early Education: The International Reggio Exchange. https://www.reggioalliance.org/downloads/path:spaggiari.pdf