In “The Pedagogy of Listening”, Carlina Rinaldi reminds us, “From the beginning, children demonstrate that they have a voice, know how to listen and want to be listened to by others. Sociability is not taught to children; they are social beings.” Here at New School-West, we support the children’s natural ability to speak and to listen to their peers by providing them with an environment rich in different materials. Children learn how to use these materials, ranging from wire to clay to line tools, to express themselves, to share thoughts, and to collaborate on ideas.
The Dandelion teachers had noticed that children were enjoying the sensory feedback from the tempera paints, so we decided to introduce another “messy” material in the classroom: charcoal. Dana invited small groups to the Mini Studio table, where she had set up one large sheet of paper and one large piece of charcoal. Then she welcomed the children to explore with a playful invitation: “Pass the line to a partner.”
Ana: It’s a line. It’s black.
Marcel: A firetruck. The siren is on. It’s going to a fire.
Arya: It’s a unicorn. My line is a horn.
Marcel: Look at that road.
Evyn: It reminds me of a firetruck.
Marcel, pointing at one side of the table: It reminds me of this fire truck over here.
Evyn, pointing at the other side of the table: My firetruck is over here.
Dana: How can our firetrucks play together?
Evyn: I’ll pass it to Ana in the middle.
Ana: I’m blending the lines together. We can use all of our fingers. See?
Marcel: The lines are blending.
Evyn: Pass it to me next. Look, the trucks have a road connecting them now. They can all be together.
Later that morning, a second group of children came together at the table with the charcoals.
Spencer: I’m making my rollercoaster.
Eddie, continuing the line: This rollercoaster right here? Here you go, Cary!
Cary: It is a dump truck.
Emma: It’s not a dump truck.
Eddie: What are you making, Emma? She’s making a line! She jumped over his hand!
Spencer: It’s a trampoline.
Eddie: She’s going around and around. It’s like our song.
Cary, singing: Round the circle round again, round the circle round again…
Eddie: Now it’s like a train.
Spencer: Choo choo! Choo choo! All aboard.
Cary: Choo choo!
Eddie: All aboard. Here is our station. Everyone, here’s the station! All aboard!
Cary: I’m going to visit my mom and dad.
Spencer: I’m going to visit my house.
Cary: I’m going to visit you, Dana!
Eddie: I’m going to visit New School-West.
Cary: Me too!
Spencer: Me too!
As the charcoal line moved across the shared paper, we saw how in each small group the children were able to move from individual ideas about “my” line to shared ideas about “our” lines. They negotiated not only for the charcoal but also with each other’s ideas. This type of reciprocal exchange lays the groundwork for children to have success not only as strong participants in our classroom but also as active, engaged citizens in our community.
For more information on how this type of education can lay this type of foundation, please see Harold Göthson’s article here: https://www.reggioemilia.se/media/2131/gothson-innov-23-1.pdf