To Climb Their Own Mountains: Creativity, Loris Malaguzzi, and his Schools

In this workshop, we will unwrap and deconstruct how creativity connects with art and knowledge through an investigation of Loris Malaguzzi’s thinking and pedagogy as expressed through the Pre-Schools of Reggio Emilia, his writing and conversation. Creativity is notoriously hard to pin down to a singular concept or way of seeing. As a process it is hard to define let alone identify processes that we can observe in young children. Malaguzzi and the Infant-Toddler and Pre-Schools of Reggio Emilia offer us a unique perspective to catch a glimpse of creativity in its everyday clothes in our own contexts and situations, not as a special mental faculty of a few, but as a way of knowing that is amplified in relational and social contexts. As artists, educators, teachers, and pedagogical leaders, we can learn how to curate and promote creativity in our own schools, classrooms, and environments when we activate pedagogical listening, reflection and exchange our points of view to energize learning through and between the 100 Languages of Children.

Learning Objectives

• To understand creativity from the point of view of Loris Malaguzzi ‘as a quality of thought’ that can be revealed in the everyday daily experiences of young children.
• To explore pedagogical approaches that support and promote creativity inspired by the Reggio Emilia Approach ®.
• To consider ways in which to connect the ‘school of knowing’ with the ‘school of expressing’ through a re-consideration of the 100 Languages.

Expert

Debi Keyte-Hartland, Artist-Educator, Consultant, Associate Lecturer and Trainer, United Kingdom.