Today I had the pleasure of joining the historical tour with
Virginia and the students. We started our tour learning more about the Campo di
Fiori which means and used to be Fields
of Flowers! I was surprised to
learn that Galileo named four moons of Jupiter after the Medici children before
they were changed to what they are now (What are they now?). Virginia also told
us that it is never a good sign when the Pope is named Innocent. It means all was not so innocent before
he became Pope! We saw the
Pantheon, and the lovely fountains in every piazza. Virginia also pointed out
her favorite gelato and coffee shops!
The tour was quite engaging not only for its historical value, but also
for helping us understand the present day context of schooling in Italy. Italy was only unified in 1861 – and
Rome was the last part of Italy to join the Unification in 1870. The tension between the government and
the Catholic church still exists today and the nearly 1000 politicians as
Senators and Deputies are among the highest paid workers in the country –even
with the most recent government economic crisis. Thank goodness they have a
statute that does the talking for
the people who wish to dissent!
In class today I provided the historical context for the
creation of the Reggio Emilia preprimary schools, and shared three themes
within the Reggio Emilia philosophy: 100 Languages of Children, Pedagogy of
Listening, and the Environment as the Third Teacher. Students today revisited their investigations that they
began yesterday, completed Time 2 sketches and observational drawings related
to their project investigations, and experienced their topic through different
lenses than yesterday. We have two
groups studying the doors around Campo di Fiori, one group investigating the
Piazza environment, and the fourth group examining the streets around the Rome
Center. They are engaged in this collaborative work to simulate the project
work completed by students in Reggio Emilia. Tomorrow we will have the wonderful opportunity to visit a
Reggio inspired preschool in Rome.
Nancy
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