February 24, 2025
How does the global situation affect preschools in the US? Meet Margie Cooper, chair of NAREA (North American Reggio Emilia Alliance), for a conversation about a study trip to Sweden, the US education system, and the importance of focusing on democracy—a topic she believes is not only relevant but, for obvious reasons, critical.
Text: Elin Mellerstedt, Editing: Edith Backlund, Photo: NAREA, Unsplash, Reggio Emilia Institute
"Although I had heard a lot about Sweden's Reggio Emilia-inspired work over the years, I wasn't prepared for how impressed I would be when I visited – how concretely you work to ensure the youngest children's right to high-quality education," says Margie Cooper, continuing:
Among other things, we learned that there are around 9,000 preschools in Sweden and that approximately 2,500 of them, albeit in different ways and to varying degrees, are inspired by Reggio Emilia. This is truly an achievement that in some ways surpasses Reggio Emilia. When we visit Reggio Emilia, we get to interact with and learn from an incredibly important city, but we don't hear anything about cooperation between cities or within Italy as a whole. In Sweden, you have been working collaboratively for all these years.
When Modern Barndom meets Margie Cooper, chair of NAREA (North American Reggio Emilia Alliance, more on p. 12), a few weeks have passed since the study trip, during which 19 educators from the US, Canada, and Australia visited Sweden under the auspices of the Reggio Emilia Institute. Between the study trip and this interview, Margie has been off work to celebrate the American holiday of Thanksgiving and has completed her mandatory jury duty (the American civic duty to report to court to potentially serve as a juror during a trial, editor's note). However, her memories of the study trip have not faded, and Margie enthusiastically recounts a study visit to the municipality of Haninge, just south of Stockholm.
Seeing the human connection between politicians and educational leaders was incredible. The emphasis on communication and dialogue to highlight the potential of preschools and schools, the incredible learning environments and all the teachers we met, the care they showed both for the children and for the work they did. For me, being in Sweden felt like a warm embrace, especially in the wake of the election that had just ended in the US.
Margie refers to Haninge Municipality's "change of perspective," where since the early 2000s, the municipality has been working to develop its view of children, educators, knowledge, learning, and working methods in preschool. She says that the story is reminiscent of the situation in many places in the US, but where the outcome has not been the same. One difficulty, she explains, is gaining an overview, as education in the US is not governed nationally by the federal government but by the individual states. Each state has its own guidelines, which Margie admits are similar, but which nevertheless create 50 different realities.
I think many people who work with young children's education here feel that we are not reaching our full potential. We have progressive states, such as Vermont, and ultra-conservative ones, such as Georgia, where I live. It's as if we're all circulating in a mix of different perspectives and experiences. But it's also about varying financial resources and expectations regarding staff's educational background, which ranges from none at all to a four-year university degree," she says, continuing:
– It often seems as if managers in education administrations are more a part of the political system than the education system. They come into the job without any background in or understanding of the profession and therefore focus on issues such as school safety or health rather than educational issues.
We haven't had to deal with this before, and it's hard to know what to expect. There's a lot of talk, but taking action is another matter. I hope this turns out to be a time when our country's power becomes an advantage and that it takes a long time before anything that affects our work is turned into actual policy. But there is a darkness spreading and casting a shadow over humanity, and this is not only true in the United States. Those who cast shadows know that by changing a country's education system, you also change its culture.
She explains that, for the first time ever, the incoming national administration has stated its intention to phase out Head Start, the only federally funded program for young children in the US. Head Start was created in the 1960s as part of the socioeconomic initiative "War on Poverty" and includes efforts for early learning and development, health, and family well-being, including preschool, healthcare, nutrition, and parenting programs.
It is challenging to be the spokesperson for an entire country's education system, but at present, I believe in persevering and continuing to work for children and teachers. Our mission is not based on political party ideologies, but rather on ensuring that all children have a richer childhood. However, it is alarming to see how quickly certain things can change. In some contexts, change happens immediately and brutally, such as the wars in Ukraine and Israel/Gaza. However, we can learn to live peacefully, and that is the only work I am interested in.
Margie Cooper is the chairperson and one of the founders of NAREA, and is based in Atlanta, Georgia. She is also NAREA's representative on the Reggio Emilia International Network and one of the founding board members of Fondazione Reggio Children.
She encountered Reggio Emilia's educational philosophy in 1990 and has previously worked as a primary and preschool teacher, preschool director, adjunct professor, author, and volunteer.
NAREA (North American Reggio Emilia Alliance) was founded in 2002 and is a non-profit organization that works closely with Reggio Emilia in Italy to provide resources and inspiration to anyone who is interested. The organization consists of teachers, parents, and advocates who seek to improve both the quality of life for children and the quality of schools and early childhood education. In addition, the magazineInnovationsispublishedtwice a year. Margie Cooper explains:
– Our backbone is organizing large conferences, always in combination with an exhibition, around the country, and there is something new every time we visit a new city. One challenge for us is that we are a small office. We often have big ideas, but it takes us a long time to put them into action, and financing was particularly difficult during the COVID years.
In 2021, NAREA conducted a voluntary survey that showed that 2,800 schools for younger children identified themselves as Reggio Emilia-inspired. Furthermore, it showed that these schools were located in every state in the US and every province in Canada.
I'm not quoting a study here, but I'd say that Reggio Emilia-inspired work has developed more in preschool than in elementary school. They're often freer in their design, but we also have other concrete examples in Head Start programs, like a big initiative in Chicago in the 90s. Overall, the inspiration tends to grow in programs in larger cities, such as Atlanta, New York, Portland, and Los Angeles, says Margie Cooper, continuing:
During my lifetime, we will probably not achieve a culturally rooted understanding of a social democratic culture and research-based approach to early education, as there is a strong positivist voice surrounding education. One idea I have in mind is to publish the national curricula of different countries, translated into English, on the NAREA website. This would enable us to communicate a different view of early childhood education and what expectations are possible.
