The 13th NAREA Summer Conference

The North American Reggio Emilia Alliance Board would like to welcome you to the 13^th NAREA Summer Conference in Ann Arbor, MI, Early Childhood Education as Activism: Stewardship, Social Justice, and Global Engagement, which is hosted by the University of Michigan Children’s Centers and the University of Michigan-Dearborn College of Health, Education, and Human Services.

This past year, we had the privilege of encountering many Reggio-inspired educators through NAREA professional development initiatives including — our inaugural Alternative Narratives Series held in three cities: New York, Boston, and Washington DC; the Brick by Brick Series held biannually in Michigan and New England; and the Eighth Winter Conference in Durham, NC. We are excited to continue to bring together educators with the aim of supporting and strengthening all those interested in the experiences and ongoing research of Reggio Emilia, Italy. We hope this initiative offers a rich and meaningful contribution to your ongoing professional development.

It is with special gratitude that we welcome our colleagues, Claudia Giudici and Luisa Costi, from Reggio Emilia, Italy. We wish to extend our appreciation to the University of Michigan North Campus Children’s Center, the University of

Michigan-Dearborn Early Childhood Education Center, and the University of Michigan-Flint Early Childhood Development Centers.

Through our professional development projects, we encounter a host of schools at varying points of their own journey, willing to open their doors, expose their work, and welcome the participation of visitors. This style of development has been introduced to all of us by the only “Reggio schools” of Reggio Emilia, Italy. To be continually encouraged to find our own unique identities as schools, in different communities worthy in our own identity, is to see how much the message of Reggio Emilia is based on attitudes of research and innovation, rather than prescriptive dogma. For this, we are also grateful.

We wish to highlight our belief in and commitment to the value of embracing a shared vision for education, which cultivates the potential of all children and adults. Recognizing the ever-increasing number of schools for young children inspired by Reggio’s approach to life and education, we honor and encourage each school and every group of colleagues to invest in an ongoing approach that includes permanent study, research, collaboration, innovation, transparency, and exchange.