Tiziana Filippini has a degree in Psychology from Padova University. She is a member of the Pedagogical Coordinating Team of the Istituzione - Preschools and Infant Toddler Centers of the Municipality of Reggio Emilia and she coordinates the Documentation and Educational Research Center of the Municipality of Reggio Emilia. Tiziana has been working as a pedagogista for the Municipality of Reggio Emilia since 1978. She was referent for the exhibition, "The Hundred Languages of Children," and now she is one of the curators of the new version of the exhibit, "The Wonder of Learning - The Hundred Languages of Children." Tiziana also coordinates the professional development activities for teachers and atelieristi of the infant-toddler centers and preschools. During her 20 year experience, she participated as speaker in several conferences and seminars in Italy and abroad, presenting the experience of the infant-toddler centres and preschools of the Municipality of Reggio Emilia. Tiziana participated in the research group, part of the research project done through a collaboration between Reggio Children and Harvard University - Making Learning Visible - that then became a very well-known book in North America and throughout the world. During the past few years, Tiziana periodically travels to the Cambridge area in Boston to present at professional development initiatives connected to Harvard University and Wheelock College.

For more information about the professional development initiatives in Indianapolis, log onto Conferences and Initiatives or contact Sharon Stuhldreher, 317-635-1491. To register online, log onto:
www.stmaryschildcenter.org/irc

Each year since 2003 NAREA has a drawing including all current memebers for a free study tour to Reggio Emilia. The winner is announced at the annual NAREA pre-conference session at the NAEYC Annual Conference in November. There have been six winners to date. We featured Nancy Fincke, the 2008 winner, in the November and December issues of the eNewsletter. Since the NAREA eNewsletter has only been in existence since September 2008, we will be featuring columns about past winners of the Reggio study tour in this and future issues. In this issue, we are featuring Sharon Libby, the 2005 winner.

I began my exploration of the meaning of the Reggio experience in late 1990's. I had participated in discussions, read a few books and had dialogue with friends who espoused the approach. I was impressed with what I had learned but had not really come to understand the heart of the work. Then the world changed. NAREA awarded me the opportunity to actually go to Reggio Emilia to see for myself. I did not realize the significance and the impact this trip would have on my thinking and my work as an early childhood educator.

 
I am the Director of Child Care Centers at Owens Community College in Perrysburg Ohio, just outside of Toledo. I had the good fortune to be working in conjunction with the chair or our department, Deborah Ciecka, who had made a trip to Reggio Emilia a few years before. Deb and I were committed to the inspiring work being done in Italy and had already begun what we called our 10-year journey to engage in meaningful work with teachers, parents and children as we explored how the Reggio experience could impact the work being done by the teachers and children of our two laboratory schools.

 

In anticipation of my trip, I expected to be enchanted by the environments of the schools that I would see. Of course, I was. Who could not be enchanted with schools that reflect the history, aesthetic and natural environment that is northern Italy? It was all I had dreamed it might be. The colors were just right; the light reflected through the air was perfect, even on a rainy day; the cappuccino was divine and I had to limit myself to one sorbet a day. What I did not expect was that this was not the core of my experience.

The core of my experience and learning during that wonderful week in Reggio was the experience I had with adults who were committed to the process of educating young children in intentional and thoughtful ways.  The dialogue I had with those Italian educators and with the members of the study group truly changed the way I work and the way I think. I came to understand in a more meaningful way the significance of the team roles played by teachers, families, the children and the community.  My growth in understanding of the significance of the visual and graphic language of children changed forever how I would talk about projects.

I also came to understand what Amelia had been telling us all along. Each practitioner must find the beauty and inspiration in her or his own context. We cannot be Italy. While we remain inspired by their work, we must build the foundations of thinking and collaboration and beauty in our own context. We can learn from their practice but we must find sense in our own practices. We can study their projects but we must find our own questions and formulate our own answers. For me, that means seeking and finding inspiration in northwest Ohio. It means looking for provocations within my own college context and within the context of the corn fields, rivers and lakes of northwest Ohio.  

Deb and I started with an original idea that our journey would be a 10-year journey. The journey is now into its 8th year. What we did not realize and now embrace is that our 10-year journey is really a forever journey. This is a journey that will not be complete but is ever changing. We have discovered that our journey has ebbs and flows; that there are barren times, and times of great growth and discovery.  We have learned that each new teacher, student, parent and child adds to the texture of our journey.

   
If you are interested in the process of our journey, please email me: Sharon F. Libby, Director of Child Care Centers and Field Placements, Owens Community College, Sharon_libby@owens.edu