NURTURING BEGINNINGS: ELEVATING THE WORK OF EARLY CHILDHOOD
Pozez JCC’s Within the Reggio Emilia approach, documentation serves many purposes. As early childhood educators, the process of engaging in documentation forces us to be mindful, intentional, and attuned to the learning processes of the children. It requires us to listen deeply to what the children are communicating, which takes place through “one hundred languages” of expression. It beckons us to truly see each child, and for them to feel that they are seen, heard, affirmed, and valued. In capturing the learning of the children, documentation makes this learning visible to fellow early childhood colleagues, the children themselves, families, and the greater community, becoming not simply something to show, but a source of reflection, conversation, and a means of further extending the meaning-making processes of children.
For the past 14 years with the exception of Covid, the ECLC has created an annual Exhibit sharing documentation of the unique and emergent learning journeys that have evolved in classes over the course of the school year. These journeys, depicted in narrative form with photographs, videos, and artifacts of the children’s work, share with a greater audience the importance of early childhood, and the wonder and innate wisdom that children hold.
Inspired by the Reggio Emilia philosophy, the ECLC assumes a constructivist approach to learning (meaning that children are active participants in the building of knowledge) and implements an emergent curriculum (the curriculum is not preset or predetermined, but rather evolves based on the educators’ observations of the children’s questions, intrigues, and theories). This allows for learning that is rich, meaningful, and diverse from class to class, and year to year, making each annual Exhibit new, exciting, and hopefully thought-provoking.
The exhibit also serves to illustrate what high quality early childhood education looks like as a point of advocacy to voice the need to address the early childhood education and care crisis that currently faces our nation. Throughout the United States, access to high quality early childhood education and care remains inequitable. The ECLC is fortunate to be part of a community and organization where the value of early childhood is seen, and we hope to use this and Exhibit as a platform to advocate for changes made on a policy level.
We were thrilled to host this year’s Exhibit “Nurturing Beginnings: Elevating the Work of Early Childhood” with an opening event this past Thursday, where guests were presented with a brief presentation followed by an invitation to view the Exhibit alongside the children who are featured in these documented learning experiences. The Exhibit will remain up in the Bodzin art gallery until August 5th, we invite you to check it out!
