So, with our IB Evaluation over, I am bursting with enthusiasm
to move the school on to the next level. That level is definitely going to take
us on a journey, which will undoubtedly be challenging and even unsettling at
times; a paradigm shift, actually.We are going to unpack what the concept of “learner agency”
really means and how it looks in practice.
I feel that a natural starting place is looking at the way
our youngest learners engage with their world. Anyone who has had the privilege
of spending time with babies and toddlers might be struck by the way they
construct their understanding of the world around them, using every sense to
build their unique schema.
The image of the child presented by Loris Malaguzzi (1993) is
one in which the child is viewed as highly capable and naturally in charge of
their own learning. He describes children as, ‘rich in potential’ who ‘seek the
meaning of the world from birth’. As a teacher committed to constructivism, I
am excited to gain a deeper understanding of Malaguzzi’s philosophy and the approach
of the Reggio Emilia schools movement and how we can apply the pedagogical
practices in our setting, across the primary grades.
References
Malaguzzi, L. 1993. ‘For an education based on
relationships’, Young Children, 11/93, 10.
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