In the Spirit of the Studio: Learning from the Atelier of Reggio Emilia
By Karen Robinette, Head Teacher
How do young children benefit from having an art studio in their school—and how can they get more out of it? This spring, four Bing Nursery School teachers attended a conference to explore this question.
On May 7th and 8th, teachers Bev Hartman, Nancy Howe, Emma O’Hanlon and Karen Robinette attended “In the Spirit of the Studio,” a conference sponsored by the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art—an extraordinary museum in Amherst, Mass., founded by children’s book author and illustrator Eric Carle and his wife Barbara.
The conference explored the many ways in which art studios connected to classrooms for young people—as they are in Reggio Emilia, Italy—influence teaching and learning. Reggio Emilia is the origin of the influential model of preschool education known as the Reggio Emilia approach, an approach Bing teachers frequently draw on.
Vea Vecchi, a retired studio teacher at the Diana School in Reggio Emilia, set the stage with introductory remarks on the topics to come. Her first point was that the art world has the function of stimulus: It suggests new concepts to explore and to elaborate, offering us poetic, nonconformist views and unconventional interpretations of reality. Art also renders evident and visible, through observation and documentation, the vital interweaving of cognitive and imaginative ways of knowing. Third, although it’s a subject still little explored with children, attention to the processes of learning through digital media is important to consider.
A session on “Teachers as Listeners and Participant Observers” was presented by two prominent educators: Lella Gandini, U.S. liaison for the Reggio Emilia schools and an adjunct professor at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and Susan Etheredge, PhD, an associate professor of education and child study at Smith College. Images of concrete experiences from Reggio Emilia and Reggio Emilia-inspired schools in the United States provided the context for a discussion about how young children learn and how teachers can create situations that best support this learning. The speakers described the teacher’s role as one of listener and participant observer. Observation is defined as the ability to see, to hear and to listen. Engaging in listening allows us to gain a multiplicity of perspectives. One is able to read cues from gestures, gaze and various ways of being when we are open to receiving information from the environment, people involved and ourselves. Through this role, we are searching for meaning, not for answers.
In a subsequent session, educational consultant Lynn Hill, PhD, shared her experiences developing and implementing an intergenerational art studio at the Virginia Tech Child Development Lab School. The school is next door to a program that provides daytime care for senior adults. Inspired by the principles of the Reggio Emilia schools, an intergenerational program was established to unite the lab school for young children with the senior facility. At first, the project seemed a failure, yet the teachers persisted, carrying out a Reggio Emilia process called a “circle of inquiry.” This involves framing questions; observing, recording and collecting data; analyzing and interpreting the data; reframing the questions; and planning and implementing the changes. Through this process, the teachers determined that an activity to unite the children with the senior adults might help bridge the discomfort that both the children and senior adults initially experienced. So they held a day of fun activities for both the children and senior adults, including face painting. It was touching for us, as workshop participants, to view slides showing the senior adults painting the faces of the children. In later slides, the children were shown painting the faces of the senior adults!
This “activity day” turned the project around and was the catalyst for the reformation of the program. Eventually, the intergenerational art studio became the curriculum. The process included establishing an art studio in a former storage space. The studio, or atelier, as it is referred to in Reggio Emilia schools, functions as a shared space for the children and senior adults to explore materials and review their artwork. Some of the many positive outcomes of their project include the establishment of positive relationships between the senior adults and children; the recognition of the power of materials to foster these relationships; the memory-building skills that the multi-part projects encouraged in the senior adults; a heightened sense of well-being among the senior adults; and a new comfort level for the children regarding older adults.
After the general presentations, the conference attendees were given the opportunity to select from among several specific workshops. The workshops were intended to build upon the theme of the art studio. The workshop choices included: “Studying Natural Forms with Clay,” “Thinking and Designing with Thread,” “Encounters with Natural Materials,” “Encounters with Recycled Materials,” “Encounters with Art” and “A Book-In-Hand: Leading Multiple Copy Storytimes.”
During the clay workshop, Smith College visual arts lecturer and studio art teacher Cathy Weisman Topal led an engaging session using materials found in the natural environment, such as bones, shells, rocks, seed pods, driftwood and the like. Working with a partner, the participants selected an item from the natural materials and tried to recreate it in clay, following a Reggio Emilia-influenced process. First the partners planned together how to go about recreating the material with the clay, then they worked with the clay itself to recreate the natural material selected, and finally, upon completion they discussed how the process evolved and whether they stuck with the original plan or made changes along the way. It was fascinating to view the participants’ completed projects. The workshop also provided an opportunity for teachers to think about and discuss ways to incorporate this inquiry method to approaching materials with children.
In addition to the many other events, an inspiring presentation by book illustrator and author Wendell Minor engaged conference participants. He followed his presentation and question-and-answer session with a book signing. Luckily, the museum’s wonderful bookstore carried all of his books. Minor has traveled throughout the United States to research his many books. He says, “A picture invites the viewer into it and offers a sense of mystery. It lets the viewer become part of the process. A good picture, like a good story, is timeless.” Minor particularly loves bringing scenes of the natural world to children. “If we lose touch with nature,” he says, “then we lose touch with ourselves.”
The museum, built in part with a gift from Bing Nursery School’s benefactors Helen and Peter Bing, offered many advantages as a location for this conference. The inclusion of an atelier within the museum was especially integral to the program’s success. The participants also spent time in the museum’s galleries and were encouraged to reflect upon their experience in the art gallery and record reactions. This process brought “voice” to visual literacy and enabled participants to understand and experience the potential of art as a tool for learning. The museum encourages participants to view art with three questions in mind: What do you see? How does it make you feel? What else do you see? The Bings’ support of the museum speaks to their continued sponsorship of high-quality programs for children and their families. Among their generous gifts to Bing Nursery School is our own Eric Carle gallery of picture book art in the corridor leading to the Two’s classroom.
Overall, the conference was an enlightening and inspirational experience for attendees. It provided much food for thought and for introspection into our own practice as teachers. We came away feeling a link with the museum since the teaching objectives and learning goals for young children are in sync with our own at Bing. We are both interested in how children learn and how best to support their needs. Repeated experiences with basic materials, such as high quality art supplies as well as recycled and found materials are offered in both programs to provide children with opportunities to grow in competency. High quality artwork and literature are viewed as necessary components in a curriculum for young children. Finally, learning from the Reggio Emilia art studios provides us with the potential to extend our own practices and to view them from another perspective.