Final Reflection
The movie phase of the dinosaur project taught me that I needed to revise my image of "the child". I have long believed that we overestimate children academically and underestimate them intellectually, but I saw that I had been guilty of that with these children. As the people at Reggio Emilia say "the children were rich, strong, and powerful."
During the movie project they showed this in their understanding of story and their ability to make their story visible and concrete. During this project I learned the power of stories made real.
The children's strength was also demonstrated in their ability to compromise, negotiate, and assimilate other peoples ideas into the project. They were much more capable of handling conflict than I had given them credit for. In the process the story they developed became richer and more representative of all of the children.
Edwards, C.P., Gandini, L., & Forman, G. (1993). The hundred languages of children, The Reggio Emilia approach to early childhood education. Norwood, New Jersey: Ablex Publishing Company, p. 102.
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