Perth Now – CLAIRE BICKERS
“CHILDREN aren’t getting the opportunity to reach their full potential because we haven’t got the “courage” to risk changing our teaching philosophies. That’s the view of Professor Carla Rinaldi — the “Dalai Lama of early childhood learning” — who believes playtime should be at the core of early childhood education. In Perth for the first time to give the keynote speech at the Child Australia conference, Professor Rinaldi told WA’s education sector it needed to “look at children with new eyes”. “They are not ‘half humans’ — they are the best essence of humanity,” Prof Rinaldi said. “We (adults) prefer to maintain what we have because to change takes energy, courage and risk. These are the qualities children have. “Give them the possibility to discover the world on their own path, in their own time, and … children can offer us the great possibility to rediscover the world with them.” Prof Rinaldi’s education philosophy, the Reggio Emilia Approach, was established in the Italian region after World War II and focuses on supporting, not directing, children’s learning.”(more)