Our Canadian society cares a lot about literacy! In primary schools we assess it. We track children’s literacy scores and analyze literacy learning in terms of success or failure. We frequently teach literacy using recommended scripted programs. To ensure educators focus on literacy every day we designate certain times of the day as ‘literacy blocks.’ Some educators feel pressured, others more confident, to teach literacy using methodologies and tools their educational system has approved – ones with measurable outcomes.
But are there down sides to literacy instruction that is always delivered by the adult in the room?
In kindergarten classrooms I have watched as some of the 3- and 4-year-old children tune out the scripted ways they are told to engage with coding and decoding skills. I have seen how some children squirm in their chairs trying to force their hand and pencil to form alphabet letters even though the bones in their fingers and hands are not yet fully developed. I have also seen how some children become motivated by a desire to please the teacher, rather than by their inner curiosity.
Though many of our provincial kindergarten programs in Canada endorse an emergent curriculum, we have a longer history of teaching by telling and drilling. Is it even possible for strong literacy skills to be borne through children’s curiosity and within a pedagogy of listening? What could this look like?
This is the question Jennifer Kelly tackles in her book Reggio-Inspired Literacy in Primary Classrooms – Nurturing children to listen, prompt, guide and research as they work together for more meaningful learning.
She begins with a brief introduction to the origins of the Reggio Emilia Approach® in Italy following WWII. Then she dives more deeply into foundational elements of this approach, touching on:
- Democracy in the classroom
- Documentation
- Learning within the context of relationships
- Learner as a researcher using all their senses
- Family involvement, belonging and community
- The role of the teacher
In each section of her book, Kelly weaves concrete examples of children’s skill development with their growing understanding of how to be listeners, researchers, and carers of self, others and the natural world. She offers strategies for working within her province’s educational curriculum to support children’s learning that has been germinated through curiosity—where the child and teacher are researchers and co-learners within the classroom.
Literacy-inspired Literacy in Primary Classrooms is not, and cannot be, only about literacy. Instead, it explores literacy as a valued thread woven into the fabric of children’s living and learning. Kelly shares, for example, how she pairs listening to and observing children with children’s books that have the potential to launch children’s investigations. By using books that connect to children’s wonderings and interests, Kelly carefully considers open-ended questions to engage children in dialogue. What are their wonderings, theories, and the teacher’s intent for research? Writing and reading skills become embedded in children’s meaning-making, but meaning-making leads the way.
One of the first questions we ask ourselves as educators is “How can we help children find meaning in what they do, what they encounter, what they experience. And how can we do this for ourselves?” (Carlina Rinaldi, The Teacher as Researcher in Early Education)
Reggio-Inspired, as we already know, does not mean it is a Reggio Emilia Approach®
The Reggio Emilia Approach® is a dynamic pedagogy rooted in the historical, political, and social context of Reggio Emilia, Italy. But Kelly’s book does offer educators a window to see possibilities for how certain fundamental elements of Reggio Emilia Approach® can find welcome in Canadian primary school systems.
This is only a glimpse into Reggio-inspired classrooms and their unique approach to early childhood education. The emergent curriculum does not lead to transferability, but instead a weaving together of stories that paint a picture of children learning through a sense of curiosity and wonder. The stories can provide inspiration for certain approaches to engage children in their learning journey. (Jennifer Kelly, Reggio-Inspired Literacy in Primary Classrooms)
This book offers educators an opportunity to question and engage with one another about the congruity of our values, beliefs and assumptions with our teaching practice in primary classrooms.