Swedish experiences of the Reggio Emilia Approach Inspired schools: an explorative study on history, inclusion and learning environments

The Reggio Emilia Approach (REA) is briefly defined as an educational approach based on pedagogical pillars such as child-centred education, the importance of the environment as the third educator, and the recognition of the existence of 100 children’s languages. Originally developed during the period of the Post World War II in the city of Reggio Emilia,in Italy, in a special context of traditions, political and cultural movements, and now exists as a global phenomenon. Alongside the pillars that structure the approach, we considered it important to highlight one particular aspect: its ability to inspire different cultures and to challenge them in return, particularly through a process of cultural comparison carried out by teachers.This study first explores how the REA was introduced in the 1960s through the contemporary vision of education professionals in Reggio Emilia inspired schools and the Reggio Emilia Institutet based in Stockholm. Secondly, it focuses more precisely on how the approach is currently contextualised in modern Sweden (Stockholm and its surroundings), particularly by concentrating on aspects related to the learning environment and inclusion. In order to conduct this study, we applied a qualitative methodology involving interviews with the staff and collaborators of the Reggio Emilia Institutet, as well as with education professionals in Swedish schools all inspired by the Reggio Emilia Approach, in the city of Stockholm and surroundings, with the status of atelierista, pedagogista, educators, teachers and school headmasters. The interviews were exploratory, semi-structured, anonymised, voluntary and conducted at the workplace of the interviewed, in Sweden. A thematic analysis was then carried out using a coding system based on a deductive approach, allowing space for innovation. Moreover, for the focus on the environment, we also used photographs and videos of Reggio Emilia inspired schools. Data triangulation was performed using existing literature in order to analyse, in a recursive process, what emerged from the interviews and the elements detected in the learning contexts. Three main points emerged from this research work. The first aspect concerns a range of historical, political, and cultural factors in the Swedish context, as mentioned in the interviews and narratives, which facilitated the arrival of the REA in Sweden. This leads to the point of convergence between the Swedish context and the REA, highlighting the key introductory factors that contributed to the approach’s introduction and appropriation within Swedish culture. Secondly, referring specifically to the environment, the values and qualities that characterize these learning contexts turn out to be a valid interpretation of the REA to which the Swedish schools explicitly refer. The attention, care, functionality and support for learning, the coherence with the educational objectives of the materials and tools present, make it that third educator to which Loris Malaguzzi referred when speaking of the learning environment, albeit in the different connotations that another culture offered it. Thirdly, following the broad concept of Inclusion as grounded in the perspective of removing barriers to learning and participation and enhancing the potential of every child, the interviews highlights both continuities, such as active pedagogy, the image of the competent child, and collaborative project work, and differences, particularly regarding inclusive practices, where the presence of a specialized co-teacher emerges as a key enabling factor. Through this investigation, we show how via a process of careful revision and deconstruction of different meanings, elements specific to REA culture are transposed and incorporated into the culture of the Swedish schools visited.