The 5th NAREA Summer Conference

The North American Reggio Emilia Alliance Board would like to welcome you to the The Fifth NAREA Summer Conference, “Dialogues for Quality in Education: The School as a Place of Relationships and Connections” in connection with “The Wonder of Learning – The Hundred Languages of Children” exhibit in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

As the third offering in our series, “Dialogues for Quality in Education,” we hope this conference offers a rich and meaningful contribution to your ongoing professional development. Please do not hesitate to let us know how we can make your experience during this conference more comfortable and engaging.

It is with special gratitude that we welcome our colleagues from Reggio Emilia, Paola Cagliari and Massimo Ghirardi, joining us as we endeavor to grow in our thinking and actions on behalf of young children. We welcome their unique experiences and perspectives as educators in the renowned municipal system of infant-toddler centers and preschools of Reggio Emilia, Italy. Likewise, we thank our North American colleagues who will be presenting during the conference, as well as Riverfield Country Day School for both hosting the exhibit and this conference.

We wish to highlight our belief in and commitment to the value of diversity and differences as essential aspects of personal and professional development. Recognizing the ever-increasing number of programs for young children inspired by Reggio’s approach to life and education, we honor and encourage each program and every group of colleagues to stay a course that includes permanent study, research, collaboration, innovation, transparency, and exchange. Through our five-year professional development project attached to the presence of this exhibit in North America, we will 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 their own right is to see how much the message of Reggio Emilia is based on attitudes of research and invention, rather than prescriptive dogma. For this, we are also grateful.

Please enjoy the pleasure of thinking and wondering as we work together to construct a better future for our children, ourselves, and our communities.