The Hundred Languages of Children

Like most professionals in child development, I have done a lot of reflecting. As a teacher I spent time reflecting on what I just saw a child do; why is he doing it? why is it so important to him? I may not know the answer but I know it important to let him continue for as long as he needs to achieve his goal. As a researcher I reflected in a similar way; what am I looking at? What could this possibly mean? If I altered this would I have the same effect?  As I parent I suppose I reflect in all the above ways while looking at Lachlan. I often think that this is how the great Piaget must of felt; watching his children, documenting them and wondering so many things. I do hope Piaget had time to enjoy his children's childhood and took the time to sit back at some point and just take it all in without wonder but just watch in pure delight and simplicity; those are the best moments for me, although I will continue to be fascinated my Lachlan's development!

It wasn't until after I graduated university that I began to explore a philosophy  that made me do more reflecting than I have ever done in my early childhood journey.The Reggio Emilia Approach, which you can read about in past blogs (search Reggio, on the blog and some snippets will pop up) is one that has fascinated the world. Thousands of educators/researchers flock to the mid-sized Italian town each year to study and tour their schools. I think like me, these people leave so inspired but yet feeling like they have so many more questions to ask. When you talk to the educators there, they provoke so many more thoughts and questions that you feel like Pandora's box has just been opened and you realise there is sooooooo much more that you need to try to wrap your head around. This is difficult for those that don't live in the Reggio culture and community. Culture and community is so important to their education of children in a way that busy Americans and Australians certainly can not understand. We say that these things are important but we really don't have a society structured for this. Our busy lifestyles and pursuit for individual dreams has left us more separated than ever before. Many people don't know their neighbours and couldn't call the parents of their child's classmates by their first names, let alone name all the children in their class without a reminder. All of this doesn't necessarily mean that our culture breeds selfish people or bad parents, I'm sure we make up for it in other ways. What it does mean is that we just can't take a philosophy such as the Reggio Emilia Approach and implement it into our own culture with a flick of a switch. We can take pieces here and their but it will become altered and transformed by our own influences; as it should!

Loris Malaguzzi is an amazing educator who founded the Reggio Emilia Approach (really the children 'founded' it but he was the one who recognised and labelled what he saw from the children and what educators could provide to further their development.) Below is his description of what he calls 'The Hundred Languages of Children' which is the foundation of the Reggio Curriculum. It has been translated to English. I hope you will read it and like all poems spend some time to reflect on what the words mean to you and what they would mean to your child.

The Hundred Languages

The child
is made of one hundred.
The child has
a hundred languages
a hundred hands
a hundred thoughts
a hundred ways of thinking
of playing, of speaking.
A hundred always a hundred
ways of listening
of marveling, of loving
a hundred joys
for singing and understanding
a hundred worlds
to discover
a hundred worlds
to invent
a hundred worlds
to dream.
The child has
a hundred languages
(and a hundred hundred hundred more)
but they steal ninety-nine.
The school and the culture
separate the head from the body.
They tell the child:
to think without hands
to do without head
to listen and not to speak
to understand without joy
to love and to marvel
only at Easter and at Christmas.
They tell the child:
to discover the world already there
and of the hundred
they steal ninety-nine.
They tell the child:
that work and play
reality and fantasy
science and imagination
sky and earth
reason and dream
are things
that do not belong together.
And thus they tell the child
that the hundred is not there.
The child says:
No way. The hundred is there.

-Loris Malaguzzi (translated by Lella Gandini)

I was very blessed to be able to go a few weeks ago to The Hundred Languages Exhibition that tours around the world. An organisation that I belong to, the Reggio Emilia Australia Information Exchange, received some funding from the state of Victoria and was able to sponsor this brilliant exhibition. It was wonderful to not only see educators attend but parents who were just passing by drop in to see the exhibition. The exhibition was free and for the whole community and I really hope that it was enjoyed by many. There were certainly many parents in awe by what they saw and inspired by the work of children in Reggio, as it showcased many of the children's projects (ideas and thoughts they came up with at school which they used materials to explore and experiment). Parent and educators are fascinated by the concepts these children come up with and the ways they go about representing it. The exhibition is a great example of how far children can go to teach themselves if we provide the right materials and use provocation to send their questions down various trajectories. I highly recommend all parents to see this exhibition if you can and bring your children! It is interactive. I've included some photos of Lachlan exploring the exhibition hall in this blog.