Reggio Emilia Institute development project
January 27, 2023
Since 2007, the Reggio Emilia Institute has invested its surplus in various short- and long-term projects as a way of contributing to the practical development of Swedish preschools and schools. When our activities generate a surplus, we use the money for projects to deepen our knowledge, involve our members, give back, and contribute to a higher level of expertise that can benefit everyone. In this way, the Reggio Emilia Institute can be seen as a practical development institute, through its projects, but also through its program activities.
Since 2007, a number of different projects with varying focuses, involving preschools or schools, have been carried out, which are described at the end of the text.
Current projects of the Reggio Emilia Institute
A sustainable future through ingenuity and drive
In 2015, the Reggio Emilia Institute decided to launch a larger, ongoing joint project for preschools and schools. The project is called A Sustainable Future Through Ingenuity and Action.
More about the Sustainable Future network project
Completed projects
A number of selected preschools or schools participated as partners in all of the completed projects. Some of the projects also involved networks in the form of larger groups of preschools or schools.
Focus project 2012–2015
The in-depth project for preschools, to seek knowledge about how Reggio Emilia inspiration can influence, shape, and develop Swedish preschool practice. Or, as the participants themselves put it:
"We want to investigate how an REI-inspired practice can take shape in an exploratory dialogue with the clarified target areas in Lpfö."
Parts of the project results have been published in the Reggio Emilia Institute's magazine Modern Barndom (no. 3, 2017). Modern Barndom has also written about the project previously (in nos. 3/12, 3/13, and 4/14).
Tomorrow's Preschool 2008–2010
The Tomorrow's Preschool project group was formed after the Reggio Emilia Institute began receiving an increasing number of questions about what to consider when building or renovating preschools in order to facilitate a Reggio Emilia-inspired approach. The Tomorrow's Preschool project group was then formed, with Reggio Emilia-inspired educators and managers, as well as architects and designers, to investigate this further and contribute knowledge and experience about the environment as the third educator from a broader perspective and for many different professional groups.
The project included: Monitoring the construction of a preschool, testing, observing, and evaluating the construction of an activity station, and inventorying and analyzing educational environments at five preschools from Boden to Kalmar. On behalf of the Norrmalm district in Stockholm and prior to the construction of their new district Hagastaden, an inventory of their preschools was also carried out (see Inventory of the educational environment, Norrmalm municipal preschools HT/2010).
Parts of the results of the Tomorrow's Preschool project have been published in the book Modern Childhood: The Environment as the Third Teacher in Preschool (Reggio Emilia Institute 2017).
The Intercultural Project 2007–2011
The project began with a discussion and planning phase, involving exchanges between educators, educational leaders, parents, and researchers from Sundbyberg, Stockholm, Malmö, and Reggio Emilia. This was followed by case studies at three preschools in Sweden and four preschools in Reggio Emilia, in close collaboration with Reggio Children.
Project objective:
"Children's 100 languages in multicultural contexts – How a preschool based on the 100 languages promotes the development of linguistic, communicative, relational, and cognitive skills"
Experiences and conclusions from the project have been compiled in an internal report. Parts of this report have been published in Modern Barndom (No. 4, 2016, and Nos. 2 and 4, 2017).
The Bright Spot – children's relationship to the phenomenon and concept of light. 2006–2008
Project objective:
“Deepen cooperation with municipal preschools in Reggio Emilia. Gain insight into the learning that takes place when children explore and relate to light as a phenomenon and concept, as well as the importance of aesthetic expression for children’s learning.”
Experiences from the project are compiled in the bookLjuspunkten – barns relation till fenomenet och begreppet ljus (The Point of Light – Children's Relationship to the Phenomenon and Concept of Light),(2012, ed. Karin Alnervik, Harold Göthson, and Birgitta Kennedy, Stockholm University Press).
The Magic Language 2007–2009
Project objective:
"Investigate young children's relationships to language, learning, and writing."
In collaboration with around 40 educators, educationalists, and studio artists at a dozen preschools in Stockholm and Jönköping, as well as researchers and teacher training students.
After completing the project, Professor Gunilla Dahlberg and Senior Lecturer Liselott Mariett Olsson, PhD, Stockholm University, received just over SEK 6 million from the Swedish Research Council, spread over three years until 2012, to continue researching young children's relationship to language, learning, and writing in a globalized society.
The project is described in the Swedish Research Council's publicationResultatdialog 2013(Results Dialogue 2013).
Three school projects
The Reggio Emilia Institute has carried out three projects on primary education. In connection with these, several school conferences have also been held, where participating educators have shared their experiences with researchers, architects, and other external speakers.
School projects in 2006–2008
Project objective:
"How can you work in a Reggio Emilia-inspired way in the school environment?"
During the project, 10 points were written under the leadership of Harold Göthson: "Similar or different. What can Reggio Emilia Inspiration be?", which was published in Modern Barndom No. 3/09, and has since been reprinted several times as a special edition.
School Project II 2009–2012
For the purposes of this project, the scope was limited to the school subjects of mathematics and Swedish. It became important to understand the relationship between the subject concept and project planning:
"How do children's and young people's experiences contribute to meaning-making through mathematics and Swedish as communicative tools in a school context?"
Astrid Pettersson, professor of mathematics education at Stockholm University, also participated in the project, in which four focus schools played a prominent role.
The project was described in the bookEn skola som berör – Reggio Emilia-inspiration i skolan(A School That Matters – Reggio Emilia Inspiration in Schools), (2014, ed. Per Dahlbeck, Kerstin Lagrell, Studentlitteratur).
School Project III 2013-2015
“Design for participatory learning”
The project's questions were:
- How can you design assignments for students that are based on "participatory learning"?
- How can you create and use spaces, materials, and tools that support these tasks?
Parts of the results have been published in the Reggio Emilia Institute's magazine Modern Barndom (no. 1, 2016).