By Diane Kashin, Ed.D, RECE. I have been doing a lot of thinking about inquiry lately. In my capacity as the chair of the York Region Nature Collaborative I was invited to take part in a pilot environmental inquiry project with the York Region District School Board, which involves two different full day kindergarten classes. The … Continue reading
By: Diane Kashin, Ed.D, RECE. I have been an ardent proponent of emergent curriculum in early childhood education well before I became Reggio inspired. In the early nineties I became aware of the work of Elizabeth Jones and John Nimmo and used their textbook, Emergent Curriculum as the foundation for the curriculum courses that I taught to … Continue reading
By: Diane Kashin, Ed.D, RECE. It is heartening to see that there is much interest in the Reggio Emilia Approach and a genuine desire expressed by many to begin the process of becoming Reggio inspired. Thinking about our practice as a journey has me pondering. Metaphors are a useful tool to promote reflective thinking about … Continue reading
By: Diane Kashin, Ed.D, RECE. On October 12th, I was in Denver, Colorado at the Resource Area for Teachers (RAFT) and participated in a “Messing About” workshop that incorporated the exhibit, Cultivating the Scientist in Every Child: The Philosophy of Frances and David Hawkins. The day before, I had the opportunity to tour the Boulder … Continue reading
Jane’s comment about the children going “beyond the beyond” reminded me of the words of Malaguzzi. “Creativity seems to emerge from multiple experiences, coupled with a well-supported development of personal resources, including a sense of freedom to venture beyond the known” (Malaguzzi, 1998, p. 76). An exploration of shells in Jane's JK classroom. According to … Continue reading
What is a Pedagogical Leader? Kagan and Bowman (1997) describe a PEDAGOGICAL LEADER as someone who: Recognizes that the core of early learning is to ensure quality of the day-to-day lives of the participating children and to support and enhance their growth, development and learning Keeps abreast of current trends and issues in early learning … Continue reading
Technology Rich Inquiry Based Research 