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Workshop@Odyssey
This workshop is made up of a series of sharing sessions and hands-on workshops facilitated by a group of early childhood educators from the Odyssey, who are practitioners and advocates of this highly-inspirational approach. The workshop was conducted at Odyssey @ Wilkinson on 18th July 2009, and was attended by more than 100 participants. The main objective of the workshop is to provide insights into the key pedagogical principles and practices of the Reggio Emilia approach and how these ideas could be interpreted and adapted to promote optimal learning experiences for children. A brief summary of the workshop objectives and outlines: Insights and Inspirations from Reggio Emilia, by Ms Kelly Hor & Ms Weelai Suwaranat The Odyssey, as the regional representation for innovative early childhood education serves as the model for inspiring teachers into rethinking and reinventing their own teaching practices. This keynote session provides a brief overview of the Reggio Emilia approach which include: 1) Key ideas of respect for the individual child, viewed as the competent, capable and powerful learner. 2) Emergent curriculum, children’s ideas and interest as the basis for implementing child-inspired projects. 3) Observation and documentation. 4) School as a Learning Community.
Concurrent Sharing Sessions The key focus of this session is in exploring early experiences for children 0 to 3 years of age, and strategies for facilitating early experiences that are individualized to meet each child’s unique growth and developmental needs. Facilitators shared ideas on the following; Projects, Children as Researchers, by Ms Chitra Venkatesh & Ms Rebecca Han This session introduced strategies for initiating, implementing and documenting child-centered, emergent projects that encouraged children’s interests, promote child-directed inquiry and research through exploration of materials and their immediate surroundings. This sharing also included how teachers could help children make decisions about the direction of the project study, the ways in which small group projects could be planned, and the representational medium for showcasing the children’s competencies and rich learning experiences, and the processes involved in observing and documenting a project. Facilitators used two real projects conducted in the preschool and early years to respectively share how teachers could support and enrich children’s learning. In this session, facilitators shared their experiences in observing and documenting children’s educational experiences, with key emphasis on the process of ‘listening’ to promote a philosophy of ‘Giving voices to the child. Teachers learned that listening, involved careful observation of the child’s verbal and non-verbal cues, from which to interpret and give meaning to these interactions. Interpreting and giving meaning to the child’s learning involved a process of documentation.
The Odyssey, A Reggio-inspired Learning Journey, by Ms Rupal Arora & Ms Kelly Hor
Concurrent Hands-on Workshops Key features of the physical environment and the supporting equipment and complementary materials that go with each were introduced. In this session. Teachers gained real hands-on experiences from the children’s perspectives as they interacted and explored with the materials set up at the exploratory and science corners.
Rethink and reinvent Early Experiences with Technology, by Ms Irene Lim, Ms Sun Shi Juan, Ms Yvette Lee and Ms Rebecca Han
This hands-on workshop explored the integration of technology in the early childhood classrooms. Teachers learned about the usage of different technological media that could effectively be used as a teaching and learning tool in the classrooms.
During the workshop, participants had the opportunities to interact and learn to use a variety of technological media as teaching and learning tools in the early childhood classrooms.
The Atelier Experience, by Mr Muhd Fadly Asis & Ms Monica Wee The atelier as an art studio plays a very key role in supporting the philosophy of a hands-on, minds-on and hearts-on program. Teachers experienced the vibrancy of the atelier as a place for enriching children’s educational experiences, and creative and aesthetic development. This workshop was planned to encourage teachers’ interactions with materials in the atelier using media like paint, wire, clay, wood, pen and ink.
Through the atelier experience, teachers would be able to expand their thinking and ideas of how collaborative work with materials could encourage children’s learning and develop appreciation of the value of encouraging expressiveness and creativity in each individual child.
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INSIGHTS AND INSPIRATIONS FROM REGGIO EMILIA @ THE ODYSSEY Wilkinson, 18th July 2009
In this sharing session, facilitators shared their experiences; successes and challenges in managing, integrating and implementing a Reggio Emilia inspired program at The Odyssey. 
Participants would gain insights into how a Reggio-inspired environment could be organized to promote a child-centered program, and how creative and innovative use of materials and integration of technology into the early childhood classrooms could effectively encouraged optimal learning. 
This hands-on workshop focused on how a constructivist learning environment could be organized to encourage children to become active constructors of their own learning. 
