1. WALKING ON SILK THREADS: REFLECTIONS FROM THE REGGIO EMILIA WORKING GROUP

CHAPTER 1

WALKING ON SILK THREADS: REFLECTIONS FROM THE REGGIO EMILIA WORKING GROUP

The following is excerpted from Loris Malaguzzi and the Schools of Reggio Emilia: A selection of his writings and speeches, 1945-1993 edited by Paola Cagliari, Marina Castagnetti, Claudia Giudici, Carlina Rinaldi, Vea Vecchi and Peter Moss. © 2016 Reggio Children and Preschools and Infant-Toddler Centres – Istituzione of the Municipality of Reggio Emilia. All rights reserved.

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1 :: WALKING ON SILK THREADS

REFLECTIONS FROM THE REGGIO EMILIA WORKING GROUP

Selecting texts by Loris Malaguzzi and making a synthesis of each decade as presented in the book Loris Malaguzzi and the Schools of Reggio Emilia: A selection of his writings and speeches, 1945-1993 (a project long hoped for that has come true, thanks above all to the passionate and competent commitment of Peter Moss, whom we warmly thank) has meant greater emotion and awareness, revisiting a history that precedes some of us, which some of us experienced first-hand, and which we are still living. Turning our gaze to the past is never simple, it reawakens memories, reinterprets events and provokes comparison with the present.

Certainly what emerges from the words of Loris Malaguzzi is a portrait of an exceptional man, but also the portrait of a city [Reggio Emilia] that has been capable of discussing and of facing change in original and often counter-current ways, of battling to evolve into a society it believed to be more intelligent, cultured and fair for all.

What legacy has Loris Malaguzzi left us? To the city and those of us who live in the present, he has left a precious treasure to be defended and nurtured: the awareness that respect for children’s culture is closely tied with respect for ourselves and the civilisation being constructed. The awareness that no problem, however complex, can be resolved without innovating our thinking and creating connections with the context in which it is situated. An innovation, however, that does not betray basic values and ethics that have accompanied the constructing of our educational and political thinking.

It has not been an easy journey. Malaguzzi says this several times: and we repeat it, those of us who have continued on the road mapped by Malaguzzi and many others, participating in the educational project with enthusiasm, hard work and creativity. It has always been like ‘walking on threads of silk’, keeping a fine balance and often at risk of falling, not as poetic as the quote would make it seem. It means having the courage to take decisions even if they go against the flow, when there is a risk of making mistakes, being exposed to potential error because the situation is not clear. It means ‘avoiding opportunist and obsequious attitudes towards authority’, discussing and exchanging points of view constantly with other realities, trying to evolve situations that appear stagnant and irresolvable.

Revisiting almost fifty years through Malaguzzi’s writings and speeches, we understand some of the capabilities needed to construct durable innovative projects that require and defend quality: intelligence, creativity, rigour (stringent rigour), courage, patience, perseverance, the capacity to make connections and to argue the case for these projects. A general attitude of great human solidarity – social, cultural and political.