Just over two weeks before the start of the 2024-25 school year, over 60 early years educators gathered on the SMUS Junior School campus for a Reggio-Inspired Summer Institute. The conference, organized by Margaret Lincoln, a long-time former SMUS Kindergarten teacher and West Coast Reggio Network founder, took place on Aug. 22-23.
“It is really exciting when you get a group of educators together at the start of a school year with so much enthusiasm about the year to come,” said Becky Anderson, Director of the SMUS Junior School.
The recently-renovated Junior School was on display and gathered educators that spanned schools across British Columbia including Vancouver, the Okanagan, Comox Valley, the Gulf Islands and Prince Rupert to enjoy and explore the Trottier-Morgan Annex, a purpose-built Reggio-inspired learning space.
“The Reggio Emilia approach holds a strong image of the child at the centre that transcends everything else including curriculum and methods,” described Lincoln. “In that image of a child we understand that children have much to contribute and are capable and curious. We see that every day so in the classroom we want to listen to and observe those theories and ideas naturally emerging from children and amplify that around curriculum so their learning can go much deeper. It allows them to connect more meaningfully to their personal interests are. There’s also a big social-emotional underpinning to this approach which is not separated but very holistic.”
Ahead of the start of school, the conference attendees became the students and enjoyed presentations and hands-on workshops with three facilitators including Janice Novakowski, Misty Patterson and Matt Glover.
“Our teachers are learners, too,” highlighted Anderson, who also sent three Junior Kindergarten educators to Reggio Emilia, Italy last May for professional development. “They're passionate about what they do and are experts. They are always constantly learning and wanting to improve. That is one of the principles of a Reggio-inspired approach as well, that teachers see themselves as researchers. This conference is modeling that and allowing us all to put that into practice.”
Novakowski, director on the board of the Vancouver Reggio Association, kicked off the Thursday learning highlighting her work in the principles and practices of the Reggio Emilia approach around math and science.
Paterson first learned about the Reggio Emilia approach in 2005 and presented an inspiring breadth of her work that she does with materials, inspirational prompts and provocations. She brought that learning to life with a material-based, visual display of the conference learnings as it was happening.
The conference wrapped up on Friday with a workshop led by Glover, who showed videos of his approach in nurturing language composition. The youngest of children were capable of compositional thinking whether that was through pictures, clay, words, blocks, paint or language. Glover has worked closely with the SMUS Junior School in the past.
“What we love about what he's done for us as educators is that he really reminded us to value and honor the work that the children are doing, whether they are three years old or beyond the junior school age,” described Anderson. “He reminds us it’s about instilling that love of literature, that love of writing and reading and feeling so capable in the work that they're doing.”
SMUS educators from Junior Kindergarten to Grade 2 were all present soaking in the learning, sharing, collaboration and their own experience of learning through play.
“I feel so lucky and so supported here,” said Grade 2 teacher Michelle Janke of the professional development opportunity brought right to her classroom doorstep. “We're just playing, as adults, and playing shouldn't ever stop. I think that's why I'm feeling so inspired right now because I'm seeing how much fun I'm having here. My philosophy and approach have always been ‘you are learning most when you're having fun and are happy.’ It's exciting to know that that's such a priority at our school - the joy of learning.”
That joy of learning will flip scripts as SMUS prepares to welcome its youngest learners to the Victoria Ave. campus on Sept. 5 for the first day of school.
