There is something that continues to raise questions for me and perhaps for you. It’s the claim and association with Reggio Emilia. We have started to confuse aesthetics with philosophy. Whether it’s how buildings are designed, the use of neutral tones, curated resources, architecturally designed spaces or indoor plants placed “just right”. And suddenly the label “Reggio-inspired” is attached.
But the educational project in Reggio Emilia was never simply about architecture or environments. The educational approach includes aspects related to democracy, participation, rights and much more. It is about teachers working as researchers alongside children, not simply setting up experiences that “look beautiful” in photographs.
It is about deep thinking, collaboration, uncertainty, dialogue, interpretation and collective meaning making. The environment and aesthetics matters, yes. But the environment was always intended to provoke relationships, research, curiosity and encounter, not become the end point itself. A beautiful space without deep listening is not ‘Reggio Emilia’. Nor is naming a space an atelier or piazza without democratic practice or a curated shelf without intellectual engagement alongside children.
Sometimes I worry we have become too focused on the image of Reggio Emilia and not the philosophy beneath it. The challenge for all of us is to move beyond the surface and to ask deeper questions such as: how are educators researching learning? Or how is democracy enacted daily?
While we are not located in Reggio Emilia, we can remain in serious dialogue with its educational project. The label matters far less than the depth of thinking, ethics and practice that sit beneath it.
