1. RUNNINGHEAD: REGGIO EMILIA
The Reggio Emilia Approach: Outcome of Transition Practices
Susan DeRosa
Professor Sibilia
PSY 515 H1
Childhood & Adolescent Development
March 28, 2015

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SusanDeRosaBay Path UniversityPSY515 H1 Childhood&AdolescentDevelopment 1
Justafter WorldWar II, a group of womendecidedtobuildaschool tobringhope back intoa war
torn cityin NorthernItalycalledReggioEmilia.The village gatheredconcrete blocks,bricksandstone and
beganto buildwhatinpresentdayisknownas one of the finesteducational institutionsinthe world
(Gandini,2000). The program was spearheadedbyLorisMalaguzzi between1946 until he retiredin1985
where hiscommitmenttoinnovationstillcontinues.Thisapproachtoearlychildhoodeducationwas
developedinthe municipalsystemof 46infant-toddlercentersandpreschoolsforchildrenbirthto6 years
old.
The basic principlesof the ReggioEmiliaApproach(REA) hasmanyof theoretical constructsto
PiagetandVygotsky(Berger,2011).Vygotskytheorystatesthatchildrenconstructtheirknowledge through
the relationshipsthattheybuildwithotherpeople andthe surroundingenvironment.The workof Piaget
promotesthe image of a childas capable of self-learningandchoice.The ReggioEmiliaapproachbelieves
that all childrenare capable of constructingtheirownlearningandthattheyare an interactive playerina
groupwithincommunitiesthatfosterlearningtogether.There isagreat deal of collaborationwithReggio
Emiliaapproachwhichbelievesthatclassroomare made upof interactionswithteachers,parents,
communityandthe surroundingenvironment(Berger,2011).
There isno setlessonplanwhenutilizingthisapproach,insteadtime isnotsetbya clock,but
insteadbythe pace andabilityof the studentwhotypicallyexperience several yearswiththe same teacher.
Thismethodof child-centeredlearningfocusesonobserving,recording,thinking,andshowingchildrenhow
to learnbyencouragingactivitiesthatencompassmultiple mediainwhichtolearn(Gandini,2000).Children
are the mastersof theirlearning.LorisMalaguzzi describesthe image of the childas“rich inpotential,
strong,powerful,competentandmostof all,connectedtoadultsandchildren”(Penn,1997,p117). The REA

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was developedspecificallyforthe municipal childcare educationprogramsforchildrenunder6yearsof age,
and wasnot designedforprimaryeducation.
Thisarticle investigatedanunderstudiedaspectof the REA,specifically,transitionpracticesfrom
pre-school toelementaryschool education.ThisstudylookedatNorthernItaliantransition practicesfromin
288 studentswhere 1.Academicachievement,2.School liking,3.Cooperativeness,and4.Problem
behaviorswere evaluated. The authorswere concernedastohow well a studenttransitionsfromaReggio
Emiliaapproachthat focusesonthe image of the childin focusedandnegotiatedlearning,toanelementary
school environmentwhichismore formal anddependsonthe teachertoplaythe central role as facilitator.
In the citiesof Genoa,La Spezia,Italy,131 boys and157 girlsattending preschoolsfromarange of
socioeconomicbackgroundsbetweenthe agesof 5 and6 and continuedfor5 years.Appropriate consents
were signedbyparents,teacherscompletedthe instrumentsforall participantsintheirclassesanddatawas
administeredby the same researchassistantthroughoutthe study.Datawascollectedinmonths2and 9
before andafterthe transitiontothe new school.Schoolswere thenanalyzedbylow,medium,orhigh
implementationschools. InItaly,there isgreatsensitivityto thistransitionillustratedbylawsmandating
specificmeasurestofacilitate post-transitionadjustment.
Baseline characteristicswere similarinall groupsthroughmultiple provenanalytical instrumentsto
preventvariability. The resultsillustratedthatthe firstmetric,academicachievement,decreased
significantlyfollowingthe transitiontoanew school,butincreasedduringthe secondyearandwasnot
statisticallysignificant.
The metricof Pupil-ratedschool-likingillustratednosignificant effect.There wasnorelationship
betweenschool likingandparenteducationlevel,butsex differenceswereobserved;girlsreported
significantlyhigherlikingoverall thanboys.Pupil-ratedschool likingincreasedduringthe secondyearinhigh
implementationschoolsanddecreasedinmediumimplementationschools.Teacherschool likinghadgreat

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variabilitywithsignificantdecreasesyearone andcontinuedintoyeartwo. Inlow implementationschools,
likingdecreasedoverthe school transitionbutnoothersignificantschool differenceswere shown.
The third metriccooperativenessshowedsignificantincreasesoverthe firstyearthatcontinued
ontothe second.The degree of the mother’seducationwastiedtobetween-subjectvariabilityandshowed
a significantdropincooperativenessduringthe transition.Girlsshowedhighercooperativenessoverallthan
boys.Between-school variationswere significantlyassociatedwithcooperativeness,butnootherbetween
school differenceswereobserved.
ProblemBehaviorwasthe lastmetrictobe measuredandshoweda significantdecrease inthe first
year.Mother’seducationwasnegativelyassociatedwithproblembehavioroverall.Girlsscoredloweron
problembehavioroverall thanboys.Thisdifference wasassociateddirectlywiththe level of implementation
on the school transitionpractices.Lowimplementationschoolshadanincrease inproblembehavior,high
implementationschoolsdecreasedsignificantlymore thanschoolswithmiddlelevel transitionpractices.
Overall the degree of implementationof transitional practiceswere directlyassociatedwithbetter
adjustmentaftertransitionfrompreschool toelementaryschool.The mostsurprisingoutcome inthe results
was the differencesintransitionprocedures.AlthoughItalianlaw mandatesthe facilitationof school
transition,there isagreat deal of latitude asto how eachschool choosesto execute theirpractices.Those
schoolswhowere highratedfortransitional activitiesalsoshowedbetteroutcomes.
In conclusion,the authorsdiscussedthe importance of placingsystematic,effective proceduresin
place to facilitate school transitionsandthatmuchmore informationisneededastowhichinterventions
have the greatestpotential.Psychologistsare encouragedtofacilitate transitionpracticeswiththe student,
teachers,school andparentsespeciallyforthose studentsatgreatestriskforunsuccessful transition.

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Citations:
Berger, K.S. (2012). Developing person through childhood and adolescence. New York, New York:
Worth Publishers.
Gandini, L and Pope Edwards, C., (2000). Bambini: The Italian Approach to Infant/Toddler Care,
Teachers College Press.
Penn, Helen (1997).Comparing Nurseries: Staff and Children in Italy, Spain and the UK, Paul
Chapman Publishing.
Schneider, B., Manetti, M, Frattinin, L., Rania, N., Santo, J., Coplan, R., Swinn, E. (2014).
Successful transition to elementary school and the implementation of facilitative practices
specified in the Reggio-Emilia philosophy. School Psychology International, 35(5)
447-462.