We are so pleased to highlight another wonderful educator in our Reggio community! This month we are featuring Cheryl Briggs from St. John's-Ravenscourt School.
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| Instagram and Twitter @teachkcb |
I am currently a Kindergarten teacher with over 23 years of
teaching experience. The majority of my teaching has taken place in independent
schools. I have tried several different
early years grades; including a development of a nursery program, a Junior
Kindergarten/Senior Kindergarten split grade and Kindergarten through Grade 2.
With all my years of experience I continue to return to
Kindergarten as this is my passion. I love the age of the students and their
eagerness to learn along with their questions and reasoning. They are like
little sponges soaking up as much knowledge and learning that they can!
How and when did I become interested in RE?
It was about 7 years ago when our Junior School began our
journey with the Reggio Inspired philosophies and exploration into how well it would fit our Junior School. After being introduced to the newer
thinking it was like a lightbulb went off as I realized that this fit perfectly
with my own beliefs and how I hoped to plan and implement programming and the
environment for my students.
I felt comfortable implementing many of the practises and
the environment as the third teacher. It just felt right!
What are my favourite aspects of the philosophy?
I have so many but just a few of the most significant
aspects for me are:
· -Children are innately curious and Reggio lends
itself to allowing this to happen in the classroom
· -The philosophy values the child as capable and
with interests that can lead and drive many wonderful inquiries
· -Communication and group work are other ways to
discover things, asking those “thicker” questions. I value the collaborative
process.
· -Teachers are the facilitators of the childrens’
learning. They provide the opportunities for exploration and learning alongside
the student
· -The environment allows the children to explore,
learn and discover
· -Documentation of their learning is a valuable
tool for both the student and the teacher. The children are able to reflect on
their own learning and there is evidence of this learning for the teacher as
well
· -The documentation also allows the students to
demonstrate their learning in many different ways. “The Hundred Languages of
Children”
What books/resources would I recommend?
What do I find challenging?
I suppose the most challenging component would be that we of
course still have a curriculum for a province which drives much of programming
and being able to develop a program that incorporates the best of the Reggio
approach with the curriculum to provide a valuable educational experience for
all students.
How has my teaching changed since I began learning about
RE?
I have felt much better with some gentle guidance letting
the children being involved in their own learning and trust that they can
certainly be a part of this. I have let their questions and inquiry lead us
down some interesting roads to some deeper thinking and understanding of
concepts and ideas. My classroom reflects the shift to it being their place of
learning and understanding with me learning alongside them. It is a wonderful
and rewarding way to teach and learn. I have been able to have the students
document more of their own learning in various ways which is so valuable for
the students and myself.
In May 2015, I had the privilege, along with other educators
from Winnipeg, to join a Canadian Study Group through the Ontario Reggio
Association to visit the Loris Malaguzzi Centre and some schools of Reggio
Emilia, Italy. This was truly the best professional development I have
experienced in all my years of teaching. I learned so much from the educators
at the schools, as well as many of the teachers from across Canada that were
present from the study group. I came home even further inspired to have my
classroom be a place where the students are a part of their own learning!
