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Project Work
First - What is an Atelierista?
An Atelierista is an educator with an arts background who works closely with the children in the atelier (art studio) focusing on producing projects through different creative mediums.
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The Atelierista encourages the child to experiment and create, and collaborates with individual children and small groups to support their ongoing learning. As part of the Reggio Emilia educational approach, the Atelierista documents each child's process to further understand and celebrate their ideas.
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Mariana and Sam recognise that children have many languages of expression and thousands of ideas, we first observe and listen to these ideas closely to then support the process of developing a project. We value the voice of the child, working together as equals on a learning journey.
How a project supports deeper learning
Project work is initiated and led by children, Atelieristas act as creative guides and facilitators. Instead of being seen as the object of instruction, children are viewed as active participants and the Project Inquiry process serves as an “infrastructure” for children to observe, experiment and unravel important concepts.
The entire Project journey combines different multiple intelligence skills, which set the stage for how children perceive the educational process. These positive dispositions encourage them to be responsible for their own learning with their peers, foster stronger social skills, and cultivate self-directed, self-confident individuals.
What ignites the project can be a simple enquiry from the children that branches out provoking discussions and delegation around ideas.
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Facilitators incorporate various intelligent materials and processes that are open for different views for investigation. Through engaging activities like open dialogues, song and music, videos, art and craft, exploration tasks, storytelling and show and tell, facilitators will constantly listen, observe, and document their students’ interactions. This helps us to uncover a child's pre-existing knowledge map and set the research focus.
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Once a theme is established, we develop it by introducing artist/researchers/scientists and other professionals who have explored this topic to extend the children’s awareness. This further fuels their desire to learn as they start on their investigative research. We give space and time for the children to develop their own theories and test them out.
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As they discuss and document their experiences, they will be encouraged to use a combination of speaking and writing skills while applying their newly acquired vocabulary.
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We celebrate the children’s learning journey by developing a book, exhibition, film, or presentation depending on what best suits the concept, and share this with parents.
