"Reality, as always happens in children's hands, reveals once again its infinite potential for transformation." - Loris Malaguzzi
The Approach
The Reggio Emilia Approach was founded in Reggio Emilia, a small wealthy city in northern Italy shortly after World War II. At the time, working parents were looking for a different kind of child care for their children, one that would foster critical thinking and collaboration skills. Loris Malaguzzi joined in the effort and in 1963 Reggio Emilia opened its first municipal preschool. According to Dr. Carol Brunson Day, the first school was financed by selling a tank, nine horses, and two military truck and was built by stone, sand, and timber gathered by the villagers. This preschool was the first of several preschools and infant-toddler centers that were funded by the town, and those centers ended up serving around half of the young children in the city by the late 1970’s.
American interest in the Approach started in 1987 at the annual National Association for the Education of Young Children and has continued to grow ever since.
The Person
Louis Malaguzzi was born in Corregio, Italy in 1920. He enrolled in a teacher training class in 1939 and completed it during World War II. In 1946 he enrolled in a postwar psychology course in Rome. After he finished that course, he went to the town to have a look, and was so impressed that he stayed and became an integral part of the Reggio Emilia Approach, using his education and psychology background to design an approach that impressed people all across the world.
Day, C. (2011, May 1). Pioneers In Our Field: Loris Malaguzzi - Founder of The Reggio Emilia Approach | Scholastic.com. Retrieved September 12, 2015.
Community School: Academics » Early Childhood Center » About Reggio Emilia. (n.d.). Retrieved September 12, 2015.
The Reggio Emilia Approach was founded in Reggio Emilia, a small wealthy city in northern Italy shortly after World War II. At the time, working parents were looking for a different kind of child care for their children, one that would foster critical thinking and collaboration skills. Loris Malaguzzi joined in the effort and in 1963 Reggio Emilia opened its first municipal preschool. According to Dr. Carol Brunson Day, the first school was financed by selling a tank, nine horses, and two military truck and was built by stone, sand, and timber gathered by the villagers. This preschool was the first of several preschools and infant-toddler centers that were funded by the town, and those centers ended up serving around half of the young children in the city by the late 1970’s.
American interest in the Approach started in 1987 at the annual National Association for the Education of Young Children and has continued to grow ever since.
The Person
Louis Malaguzzi was born in Corregio, Italy in 1920. He enrolled in a teacher training class in 1939 and completed it during World War II. In 1946 he enrolled in a postwar psychology course in Rome. After he finished that course, he went to the town to have a look, and was so impressed that he stayed and became an integral part of the Reggio Emilia Approach, using his education and psychology background to design an approach that impressed people all across the world.
Day, C. (2011, May 1). Pioneers In Our Field: Loris Malaguzzi - Founder of The Reggio Emilia Approach | Scholastic.com. Retrieved September 12, 2015.
Community School: Academics » Early Childhood Center » About Reggio Emilia. (n.d.). Retrieved September 12, 2015.