The 7 Core Reggio Emilia Principles

The Reggio Emilia principles offer a unique approach to education where children are seen as active participants in their learning, encouraged to explore, create, and discover. This method has gained a lot of attention in recent years, but as more and more people use buzzwords like project-based learning and self-directed learning, it can become unclear how to actually apply these principles, especially in a public school setting.

What I appreciate about Reggio Emilia is that it doesn’t rely on expensive materials or complex resources—rather, it emphasizes the importance of involvement and proactive engagement from the community. As a strong believer in the idea that great education shouldn’t be a privilege of private institutions, I’m particularly drawn to the fact that the Reggio approach was born in public schools in post WWII Italy. Its principles are flexible and can be adapted to different settings, even with limited resources.

In this post, I want to explore the seven core principles of Reggio Emilia and discuss how educators—whether in private, public, or homeschooling environments—can implement them in meaningful ways. I’ll provide practical examples and ideas for adapting these principles in any learning space, highlighting how community involvement and creativity can fill the gap where material resources might fall short.

Read also:

• Reggio Emilia vs Waldorf: Key Differences, Benefits, and Which is Best for Your Child
• Self-Directed Learning vs Unschooling: Why Understanding the Difference Matters
• The Shift from STEM to STEAM: Why Soft Skills Are Crucial for Your Child’s Education

The 7 Core Reggio Emilia Principles: What Every Parent and Teacher Should Know

Principle 1: The Child as an Active Participant in Learning

The first Reggio Emilia principle involves considering children as active participants in their learning journey. They are not passive receivers of knowledge but are encouraged to take the lead in their education. The role of the teacher is to facilitate, guide, and observe as children engage with topics of interest. By offering opportunities for exploration and inquiry, children develop the skills needed to direct their own learning process.

The principle emphasizes personalized learning, where children bring their unique perspectives, interests, and questions to a common topic. The educator’s role is to foster an environment where these interests can be nurtured and deepened.

Real-life Application

A few years ago, I worked with students on an end-of-year fair where they had to create projects around the theme of environmental issues. The goal was to encourage them to identify a specific topic or aspect they felt passionate about.

To help them get started, we provided a variety of prompts, resources, and ideas to spark their interest. Some students knew exactly what they wanted to focus on from the beginning, while others were more hesitant or disengaged. Our role was to offer enough support and guidance to help each child find something they could connect with and actively engage in. By “providing resources,” I mean introducing them to documentaries, guiding them to the library for research, helping them explore online resources, listening to relevant podcasts, and discussing recent news.

As a result, one child focused on recycling, another on endangered species, while others explored topics like climate migration, community activism, or even created their own eco-art projects.

Once they found what sparked their interest, their learning became driven by their own curiosity, turning them into experts on their chosen subjects.

Actionable Advices and Tips

• Provide Multiple Entry Points: Instead of presenting a topic in a one-dimensional way, give children the freedom to explore different aspects of the subject that interest them. Whether it’s in a group project or an individual exploration, let them lead their own inquiry based on their passions.
• Encourage Exploration: Ask children open-ended questions like, “What part of this topic excites you the most?” or “What would you like to know more about?” Encourage them to dig deeper into their interests, and provide them with the tools and resources to do so—books, websites, or other tangible resources.
• Recognize Their Expertise: We, as educators, cannot be experts in everything. Many children, even at a young age, already possess advanced knowledge in certain areas. Our role is to recognize their expertise and build on it. While we may not be able to provide in-depth knowledge on every topic, we can guide their research, help them identify reputable sources, and teach them critical skills like visual literacy and research methodology. By acknowledging their growing expertise, we empower children to take ownership of their learning and build confidence in their abilities.
• Foster Passion-Driven Learning: Encourage children to find topics that resonate with them personally. Whether it’s environmental sustainability, space exploration, or personal cultural backgrounds, allowing them to choose the direction of their learning can ignite a deeper interest in the subject matter and increase engagement.

Principle 2: The Role of the Teacher as a Guide and Co-Learner

In the Reggio Emilia approach, teachers are seen as guides and co-learners, not traditional instructors who impart knowledge. Instead of leading the lesson from the front, teachers facilitate the learning process by creating an environment where children can explore, experiment, and ask questions. The teacher’s role is to observe, ask thought-provoking questions, and offer resources, helping children navigate their learning journey while allowing them to take ownership of it.

This Reggio Emilia principle promotes the idea that learning is a shared process, where the teacher is an active participant alongside the students, not just a disseminator of facts. This collaborative approach ensures that children’s individual interests guide their learning, with the teacher helping shape their inquiries and supporting them through challenges.

Real-Life Application

Going back to the end-of-year fair, my role evolved throughout the process. At the beginning, my main task was to spark the students’ interest in environmental issues by providing them with resources, discussing ideas, and sharing examples. Once their curiosity was ignited, however, my role shifted to that of a guide—more like a sidekick—helping students navigate their learning process and refine their ideas.

For instance, one student chose to focus on recycling after reading about compostable cutlery not being as biodegradable as advertised. She wanted to test it herself, so my role was to guide her in setting up a rigorous experiment. I helped her understand the scientific method, formulating a hypothesis, and documenting her findings in a way that reflected the accuracy and structure of true research. This collaboration turned her into an active participant in the scientific process, with me there as a facilitator, not the expert.

Other students had their own ideas—one group wanted to tackle water pollution by designing portable water filters, while another planned to set up a fundraiser for an NGO. This involved not just the research phase, but also logistical planning, including writing emails to the administration, creating a detailed plan, promoting the event, and organizing the baking of goods. Again, my role was to guide them through the planning process, offering support and encouragement, and keeping them on track, ensuring that they learned to solve real-world problems through their own efforts.

While each child was working on a unique aspect of the project, I wore many hats—facilitator, coach, and motivator—accompanying them at every stage of the process. For those students who were more passive or disengaged, I worked harder to help them find a connection to the project that sparked their enthusiasm, pushing them to actively engage with the topic.

Actionable Advices and Tips

• Become a Co-Learner: As educators and parents, we may not have all the answers, but we can still be part of the learning process. Instead of simply providing the answers, ask open-ended questions like, “What do you think might happen if…?” or “How could we test that?” Engage alongside children, learning with them as you guide them through their explorations. This approach models the process of discovery and shows that learning is a lifelong endeavor.

• Foster Independence: Guide children through the learning process, but give them enough space to lead their own investigations. Help them find resources, but encourage them to think critically about those resources and how they can apply them to their projects. This creates a learning environment where children become more independent learners who can solve problems on their own.

• Embrace Multiple Roles: wear different hats as a facilitator. You’re not just a teacher—you’re a coach, observer, and supporter. Sometimes, you’ll need to provide detailed instruction, but other times, your role will be to step back and allow the children to drive the process themselves. This is especially important when children are faced with challenges, as they will need your encouragement and guidance to push through obstacles.

• Motivate the Passive Learners: Every child has a different level of engagement, and some may need extra encouragement to get involved. Find their spark by observing their interests, asking them what excites them, and helping them find an entry point to the project. Motivation often comes from connecting the material to their personal passions or talents, letting them feel ownership over their learning.

Principle 3: The Environment as the Third Teacher

In the Reggio Emilia approach, the environment is not simply a backdrop for learning—it is considered the third teacher. This means that the physical space in which children learn plays an integral role in fostering curiosity, creativity, and collaboration. The environment is carefully designed to invite exploration, encourage interaction, and provide a range of resources that support diverse learning styles and interests.

In Reggio-inspired classrooms, the space is dynamic and flexible, often changing to meet the evolving needs of the students. The arrangement of furniture, the materials available, and even the way students interact with each other are all intentional. A well-designed environment is not just about aesthetics—it’s about creating a learning ecosystem that encourages children to engage with their work, peers, and the world around them.

Real-Life Application

Going back to the end-of-year fair, the learning environment was key to supporting the wide range of projects students were working on. The classroom setup was fluid, allowing for frequent adjustments to accommodate different needs and activities. Some students were deeply involved in research at their desks, while others were experimenting with prototypes or working collaboratively in small groups. The flexibility of the space allowed them to work on very different projects at the same time, without disrupting one another.

Additionally, the cross-curricular and inter-faculty collaboration played a vital role. Students visited different labs, explored the library for research, and collaborated with teachers from other departments to work on specific aspects of their projects.

However, this level of independence and what might seem like chaos was only possible because of the school’s long-standing policy of discipline and responsibility. Students were trusted to manage their time and resources, but this came with clear guidelines. I always provided specific time frames for activities, ensuring that students knew when to start and end their tasks, and allowed ample time for cleanup and winding down. Having these routines in place helped students develop a sense of ownership over their work, and the structure of the day became almost automatic, without the need for constant reminders.

This is what the environment as the third teacher truly means—it’s not just about the physical space, but about how that space is used to foster learning and independence.

Actionable Advices and Tips

• Create Flexible Spaces: Set up areas in your home or classroom that can be easily adjusted depending on the activity. For example, you could have a reading nook, an art station, and a science corner—all adaptable to suit different needs throughout the day.

• Encourage Cross-Disciplinary Learning: Just like the students visiting different labs or collaborating with teachers, encourage children to engage with a variety of materials and subjects. Allow them to move between tasks, whether it’s reading, building, experimenting, or creating. This type of flexibility encourages creativity and fosters problem-solving skills.

• Provide a Range of Resources: Make sure that your learning space is filled with open-ended materials that invite experimentation. For example, art supplies, books, science kits, and natural materials like stones, leaves, or shells can all serve as tools for exploration and creativity.

• Set Clear Routines and Guidelines: While the environment should be flexible, clear routines and expectations are crucial. Make sure children know how to care for the space, how to clean up, and how to manage their time effectively. This helps them develop a sense of responsibility and autonomy.

• Foster Ownership: Allow children to contribute to the design and setup of their learning space. Whether it’s arranging their desk, choosing materials for a project, or helping set up a learning station, involving them in the creation of their environment helps them take ownership of it.

Principle 4: Documentation and Visible Learning

In the Reggio Emilia approach, documentation plays a critical role in the learning process. It is not just about recording what children do, but about using that documentation to reflect, track progress, and communicate both with the children themselves and with parents or the wider community. Documentation in this context includes photographs, notes, videos, and even children’s own work, such as sketches or written reflections.

For educators, documenting children’s learning serves several purposes: it provides insights into a child’s thought process, tracks the development of ideas and skills over time, and allows for meaningful discussions about progress. Moreover, it enables teachers to involve parents in their child’s learning journey, showing them the growth, challenges, and successes of the child.

Documentation is not only a tool for communication—it also serves as a mirror for the child’s learning. By looking back at their own work, children can reflect on what they’ve learned, how they’ve evolved, and where they might want to go next.

Real-Life Application

During the end-of-year fair, the final step of the environmental project, students had the opportunity to showcase their work to the wider school community—fellow students, teachers, and parents. But documentation didn’t end at the final presentation. Along the way, as each student worked on their project, they were regularly encouraged to report their findings to the class, sharing their insights and consolidating their understanding of the topic. This process wasn’t just about presentation—it was about reinforcing the knowledge they had gained through self-explanation and peer discussion.

Each child kept a personal journal throughout the project, documenting their ideas, experiments, and progress. This included their initial thoughts, sketches, research, and even challenges they encountered. These journals served as both a record of their journey and a tool for self-assessment. At the end of the project, students were able to look back on their work, reflect on their learning, and evaluate how far they had come. The act of revisiting their journals encouraged deeper reflection, helping students assess not only what they had learned but how they had learned it.

This constant process of documentation—whether in the form of written notes, diagrams, or verbal reports—enabled the students to see their work as a continuous journey. It made their learning visible, both to themselves and to others, and served as an ongoing tool for reflection and growth.

Real-World Advice

Here are some practical tips for educators and parents to effectively document and reflect on children’s learning:

• Keep a Learning Journal: Encourage children to maintain a journal throughout their learning process. This could include written notes, drawings, photographs, and reflections on what they are learning. The journal helps children keep track of their progress, revisit ideas, and think critically about what they have learned.
• Create Portfolios: Building a portfolio allows children to collect samples of their work over time. This can include projects, written reflections, and even feedback from peers and teachers. Portfolios can be a great way for both the child and the educator to track development and identify areas of growth.
• Use Visual Documentation: Taking photographs or videos of students as they work can be an effective way of documenting the process, not just the final outcome. For example, photographing a child’s project at different stages allows both the child and the educator to see how the work evolves, providing insight into the learning journey.
• Regular Reflection: Provide regular opportunities for children to reflect on their learning. This can be done through class discussions, individual reflections, or written self-assessments. Encourage children to think about what worked well, what challenges they faced, and what they would do differently next time.
• Involve Parents: Share documentation with parents regularly to keep them informed about the ongoing learning process. This could include updates on progress, photographs of their child’s work, or reflections from the child themselves. In process-based learning, the final result may not always seem like much at first, but the documentation provides a concrete record of the steps taken and the growth that’s happening throughout the project. Sharing this with parents helps them understand that the core of the education is not just the finished product, but the learning journey itself. This helps stabilize parents’ expectations and reassures them that their children are indeed making progress, even if the results are still a work in progress.

Principle 5: Collaboration and Community

In the Reggio Emilia approach, learning is viewed as an inherently collaborative process that involves not only the teacher and the child, but also the parents and the broader community. The idea is that learning does not happen in isolation—children learn from one another, from their teachers, and from the world around them. Therefore, collaboration becomes a key element, whether it’s within the classroom, among students, or extending to include parents and community members who can offer additional expertise, resources, and perspectives. This collective involvement supports the child’s learning and development, providing a richer, more diverse educational experience.

Real-Life Application

Going back to our example, collaboration was at the heart of everything we did. This wasn’t just a classroom activity—it was a school-wide project that involved the collective effort of teachers, students, parents, and even community members.

Parents with specific knowledge were actively encouraged to participate and share their expertise, allowing students to connect their projects to real-world issues and gain hands-on insights that extended beyond the classroom.

Teachers also played an essential role in supporting and guiding the students throughout the project. They facilitated group discussions, mediated conflicts when students had differing opinions, and helped them stay focused on the collaborative aspects of the work. It wasn’t just about the final project but about the process of working together—whether that meant compromising on ideas, dividing tasks, or learning from one another.

The entire school was involved in making this project happen—whether it was by accommodating special events like the fundraising bake sale or setting up exhibits for the fair. This whole-school approach reinforced the idea that learning happens when we all come together to contribute our strengths, knowledge, and resources.

Moreover, since the project required students to collaborate in groups, it also meant that they had to engage in mediation and problem-solving, skills that are invaluable for lifelong learning and future success.

Real-World Advice

Here are some strategies for fostering collaboration between parents, teachers, and the wider community to support a child’s learning:

• Encourage Regular Check-Ins: Keep parents informed about what their child is working on and invite them to provide feedback. Regular communication helps build a strong partnership between home and school. Consider organizing brief weekly or monthly check-ins with parents to discuss the child’s progress and address any concerns or questions.
• Create Community Events: Organize activities that bring parents and teachers together, such as classroom exhibitions, school fairs, or guest speaker events. These events create opportunities for community members to share their expertise with students and provide real-world connections to the curriculum.
• Invite Expertise: Just as we invited parents to share their knowledge in our project, consider how you can bring community expertise into the classroom. This might be in the form of a workshop, a presentation, or even a virtual meeting with experts. It’s a great way to enrich students’ learning by allowing them to learn from people with real-world experience.
• Promote Group Work and Peer Collaboration: Ensure that group projects are a regular part of the learning experience. Encourage students to work together on shared goals, fostering teamwork, communication, and conflict resolution skills. Collaborative projects allow students to engage in meaningful discussions and learn from one another’s perspectives.
• Provide Opportunities for Student Leadership: Give students a chance to take on leadership roles within their groups or in the classroom. When students are responsible for leading parts of a project or facilitating group discussions, it helps them develop confidence and ownership over their learning process.

Principle 6: Projects and Inquiry-Based Learning

As we’ve sen earlier, in the Reggio Emilia approach, projects driven by children’s questions and interests form the core of the learning process. Rather than following a predetermined curriculum, students engage in inquiry-based learning, where they explore a topic or idea that resonates with them. This process encourages active learning, where children are not passive recipients of information, but instead, are the ones posing questions, seeking answers, and driving their learning forward.

Through projects, children engage deeply with their interests, acquiring knowledge not just by reading or listening, but by exploring, investigating, and creating. The teacher’s role is to support and guide this exploration, providing resources and asking questions that help children develop their ideas further. This method aligns with the natural curiosity children bring to the learning process, allowing them to shape their learning journey in an organic, self-directed way.

Real-Life Application

In our class project on environmental issues, the main theme was chosen by the faculty, providing a broad frameworkthat aligned with the educational goals. However, once the theme was set, the direction and development of the learning process were completely guided by the students’ interests and curiosities.

Some students focused on recycling, others on endangered species, while some chose topics like climate migration, water pollution, or community activism. This gave them the flexibility to tailor their learning according to their passions, creating a diverse range of projects within the same overarching theme.

What was particularly exciting to see was how the students expanded the conversation organically. While the faculty set the broad topic, students naturally built upon it, delving into areas they found most engaging. This seamless expansion of ideas showed how the teacher’s role was more about providing the initial framework and support than dictating the direction. The students, empowered by the freedom to pursue their own inquiries, led the development of their projects, while the teacher acted as a facilitator, offering guidance, helping them access resources, and asking questions to deepen their investigations.

Real-World Advice

• Encourage Long-Term, Inquiry-Based Projects: At home or in the classroom, help children explore topics that interest them through long-term projects as they encourage them to research, ask questions, and delve deeper into their interests.
• Provide a Broad Framework, Then Let Them Lead: Introduce the general theme or topic, but allow children the freedom to explore it in their own way. Instead of providing all the answers, let them take ownership of their learning process by shaping and guiding their own inquiries. This can be through providing materials, facilitating brainstorming sessions, or encouraging discussions.
• Support Exploration, Not Just Final Products: While projects are important, the process of learning is just as crucial. Encourage children to experiment, test their ideas, and engage in trial-and-error without worrying about a “perfect” final product. This approach builds problem-solving and critical thinking skills, as children learn to evaluate their work and adjust accordingly.
• Celebrate Growth, Not Just Completion: The journey is as important as the destination. Celebrate children’s progress, the connections they make, and their evolving understanding, rather than just the final product. This mindset fosters a growth-oriented approach to learning that values continuous improvement.

Principle 7: The Hundred Languages of Children

In the Reggio Emilia approach, it is believed that children have many ways of expressing their understanding of the world, often referred to as their “hundred languages.” These languages encompass not only verbal communication but also non-verbal forms of expression, including art, play, music, movement, and even more abstract forms of expression like dramatic play or gesture. Each child’s unique way of interacting with the world is seen as a valid form of communication. Through these different “languages,” children can explore and express complex ideas, emotions, and experiences.

The principle of the Hundred Languages emphasizes that all forms of expression should be encouraged and valued. In the classroom, children are supported in using a variety of materials and modes of expression to communicate their ideas, beliefs, and feelings. This approach celebrates the diversity of ways that children make sense of their experiences and allows for a more holistic view of learning.

Real-Life Application

The end-of-year fair project was a perfect example of how the Hundred Languages can be brought to life. Students expressed their learning and understanding of environmental issues in many different ways, showcasing the diversity of their approaches. Some students chose to present their findings through artistic projects, creating posters or sculptures to represent the environmental issues they were passionate about. Others chose to express their understanding through scientific experiments, documenting their processes and findings in detailed reports or interactive displays.

What made this project truly powerful was that the students weren’t simply “doing their work” in isolation. They were encouraged to make their work public by presenting it to the entire school community. This public display of learning had a profound impact, as students had to find ways to communicate their ideas clearly and confidently to a diverse audience, from peers to teachers to parents. In the process, they overcame personal and emotional struggles related to performance anxiety and self-expression.

The students not only learned to articulate their findings but also learned the importance of collaboration, asking for advice, and constructive criticism. Through peer feedback and group discussions, they developed essential soft skills such as empathy, self-confidence, and the ability to listen and offer constructive feedback—all of which are vital for personal growth and social development.

This is the essence of the Hundred Languages—allowing children to express themselves through the many forms that make the most sense to them, while also encouraging them to interact, collaborate, and learn from each other’s diverse ways of understanding the world.

Real-World Advice

• Encourage Multiple Forms of Expression: Encourage your child to explore different ways of expressing themselves. Allow them to engage in art, storytelling, music, and movement. These creative outlets help children develop emotional intelligence, problem-solving skills, and self-expression.
• Make Space for Play: Play is one of the most important forms of expression for children. Allow time for unstructured play where children can engage in imaginative and physical activities. Play fosters creativity, social skills, and problem-solving abilities, and it provides a natural way for children to express complex thoughts and emotions.
• Encourage Storytelling: Whether through drawing, writing, or verbal communication, encourage children to tell stories. This can be done through simple activities like making up bedtime stories, creating comic strips, or acting out narratives with toys. Storytelling is a powerful way for children to make sense of their experiences and communicate their ideas to others.
• Celebrate Emotional Expression: Teach children that it’s okay to express feelings through a variety of outlets, including art, music, and movement. Helping them articulate emotions in these ways not only promotes emotional intelligence but also teaches them the importance of empathy, both for themselves and for others.

Conclusion

At the heart of the Reggio Emilia approach is the belief that children are not passive recipients of knowledge but active participants in their learning journey. Every child has a unique voice, and it is crucial that we, as educators and parents, recognize that what they have to say matters. By providing children with multiple ways to express themselves—whether through art, play, scientific exploration, or social collaboration—we validate their thoughts, ideas, and emotions, allowing them to take ownership of their learning.

The principles outlined in this approach—from active participation to collaboration, and from inquiry-based learningto the Hundred Languages of Children—all point to one central idea: children deserve to be heard. They must be given the tools and freedom to express themselves in ways that align with their individual personality, talent, and interests. This not only fosters their cognitive and emotional growth but also legitimizes them as individuals, reinforcing that their contributions are meaningful, their perspectives are valid, and their voices are worth listening to.

By taking children seriously and offering them the opportunity to express their unique insights, we help them become confident, engaged learners who are equipped to navigate and contribute to the world around them. It’s through this approach that we empower children—not just to learn, but to be heard and to make a difference in the world.