Introducing Project Study Group

My name is Stacey Pistorova and I am currently a doctoral student in early childhood education with a bachelor’s in the Visual Arts. It is just this combination that led me to the Project Approach which I found made most visible in the schools of Reggio Emilia, Italy. The potential of young children are seen throughout the entire curriculum and most powerfully in the images that emerge out of these approaches; images evoking the power of their words carefully dictated by the teachers, photos taken of children deeply engaged in the process of investigation and learning, and the intentionality and beauty of the children’s drawings.


While I was energized by an approach to education that supported young children and embraced the concept of that children are capable and competent and have multiple means of making sense of the world around them, I felt I was faced an ever increasing field where children and teachers were forced to conform to a system that discredits creativity and investigation for the apparent sake of accountability. While I would never oppose the concept that we are accountable to young children, the question is whether our current educational practices are supporting young children or discrediting and harming them. And in addition, how does the current push for proficiency and an academic, push down model of education affect the role of the teacher and his/her understanding of child development, individualization and curriculum development?

The Project Approach and the Reggio Approach provide an alternative, for teachers as well as students to actively engage in the process of learning. And this is just what a group of teachers and I are investigating within the context of a study group, where we go deeper into the questions pertaining specifically to the Project Approach, but which also leads to many questions to investigate relevant to teaching and the education of young children. And so, here we are, trying to further our dialogue through Project Study Group, an online component of our ongoing dialogue. The hope is that we will: discuss our image of the child in connection to teaching and curriculum development; engage in dialogue around the barriers, joys and issues pertaining to implementing the Project Approach; respond and comment on readings that further our understanding; and post ongoing projects, the phases and questions related to implementing project work in the classroom.

We welcome anyone who would like to join us in this journey as we pose good questions and engage in good conversations about teaching and learning as the means of maintaining and in some cases finding again the energy to teach and joy in the incredibly important work we do, educating young children.