Here is a translation of the video linked below, from an unnamed participant on another reggiolist.
http://www.rainews.it/dl/rainews/TGR/multimedia/ContentItem-ad9bfa5c-2f2a-48d4-a295-bed005a6bb1f.html
FROM:
January 14, 2017 episode of TGR "Officina Italia" on RAI 3 Italian Television
Time code 13:36 to 17:08
PRESENTER: "Stimulating children's curiosity and searching together for new experiences, this is the philosophy of the early childhood centers of Reggio Emilia, which have and are really fascinating the whole world.
TITLE: Researchers in preschool
VOICEOVER: "We follow this painted branch (on the pavement) which leads us to the Robinson (Crusoe) Preschool in Reggio Emilia, named after the protagonist of the novel, because on his island he invented/discovered many things and most of all was courageous/brave. Every school in RE is an ideal city with a piazza (central town square) and spaces that are circular/in the round and Ateliers where everyone can work, see each other and work together, and if they wish even on their own - even without shoes as the floors are heated."
REPORTER: "In the preschools there are always many big windows, and here we can see a tree, a big tree, and these are its roots (he points to the graphic representation on vellum that hangs in the window.) Here we can see (he points to artefacts on the table) various interpretations of roots and those over there are the layers of the soil. In the room next door, we find the "Rooty Room," and here the children are listening to the sounds that roots listen to, from the those of the children's steps to those of the ants (moving above them.) And these are the sounds that the children believe roots hear and that they created with a wide range of objects (brush being scraped on a surface.) Among the many activities (time code 15:03) that the children engage in is the creation of video, this one is dedicated to the "Dancing Grasses." The Reggio Children approach to education, last year, sent over 5000 delegates to Reggio from all over the world. However the Reggiani's approach is not intended as a model."
PAOLA CAGLIARI (Director of Reggio Children's schools): (time code 15:27) "Adults here, teachers in particular, are researchers of experiences alongside the children. They are side-by-side with the children so that the children may be able to give shape to the best of their ideas and are, therefore, in circular relationship in which the adult-child and child-child dialogue constructs/gives shape to knowledge."
REPORTER: (time code 15:50) Kitchens are inside each of the schools, and products used in them are from a short distance away, organic and chosen giving particular attention to the raw ingredients that go into them. Robinson preschool has flexible hours, with arrival between 7:30 AM and 9 AM and dismissals at 12:30 PM, 4 PM and for those who require it even 6:30 PM. Parents are pleased on many levels.
FRANCESCA ROVANI (current parent): (time code 16:10) "This is the school that I attended as well, so I made a choice with my heart as well. We could have made a choice to go to a school closer to home, but this was a special choice."
REPORTER: "In your experience, what are children left with after they leave these schools?"
PARENT: "Curiosity and the passion of exploring/understanding and facing the world and knowing things."
REPORTER: (time code 16:31) "In Reggio Emilia, 41% of children attend one of the city's infant-toddler centers, while 90% are enrolled in the preschools. We are talking about one of the highest enrolment levels in this age group in the whole of Europe. This is one that requires a fiscal commitment on the part of the municipality of Reggio of over 21 million Euros a year."
LUCA VECCHI (Mayor of Reggio Emilia): "It is a model that has involved the entire community ever since it's inception. A model that has involved the central role of parents and educators. That is the remarkable aspect of this city, to feel a strong sense of belonging that is built around a set of values and principles in which education, and in particular the education of children, has always been one of our noteworthy capacities."