Let Kids Learn From Own Experiences!

   Inaugurated by Daniele Mancini, Ambassador of Italy, the Italian exhibition ‘The Wonder of Learning’ finds its resonance in Indian context

• ·The ongoing month-long exhibition at Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), organized by Salwan Public School, Mayur Vihar, Delhi in collaboration with the Reggio Emilia Institute, Italy garners huge response from primary teachers, trainers and students

Just a few weeks old, and the ongoing ‘Wonder of Learning’ exhibition that pushes for ‘learning through own experiences during early childhood’ has created a buzz.

While teachers, trainers and students in the primary education segment are making the most of this unique opportunity, the exhibition — derived from the Reggio Emillia approach of learning — is simultaneously witnessing a lot of student-teacher bonding.
Salwan Public School, one of the premier chains of educational schools in India, has brought this new concept to India. The ongoing exhibition ‘The Wonder of Learning – the hundred languages of Children’ at the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) is intended towards changing the concept of teaching during pre- & primary schooling.
The Reggio Emillia approach of learning was born after World War II and was introduced by Loris Malaguzzi in Italy. Being a teacher himself, Malaguzzi led to the creation of the Reggio Emillia approach that talks about a teaching philosophy of making children learn from their own experiences and observations rather than forced and rigid techniques.
Based on the recent projects of Reggio Emillia for children, this one-of-its-kind exhibition is a bag full of creativity, exploration and innovation. The exhibition comprises a series of pictures and photographs that illustrate the Italian experience of a different educational concept which makes the early educational years of children more intriguing and explorative.

“The Wonder of Learning exhibition is garnering huge admiration from everyone who is a part of primary education system in India. It’s helping in breaking boundaries and making entities meet with an open mindset and transformed approach to have a better tomorrow for our kids. The bonding that’s taking place between teachers and students is coming across as the first benefit of bringing this concept home. And, yes, there is a lot yet to be explored until the exhibition ends on December 21, 2013,” says Ms. Kiran Mehta, Principal, Salwan Public School, Mayur Vihar, New Delhi.

Loris Malaguzzi believed that children should be granted with space wherein they are allowed to be themselves, explore, see, feel and grasp on their own. It is crucial that ‘the within’ is awakened in every child because that is how one becomes different from the others.

“Salwan Public School is a firm believer in educational innovation to facilitate all-round growth of the children with easy and effective learning. Since 2002, the school has established a strong collaboration with the Reggio Emilia Institute Italy, one of the world’s finest institutes on Early Childhood Education, to learn what ‘Early Childhood Education is all about,” Ms. Mehta adds.

The exhibition is split into six different segments and each of these involves a great sense of newness in its approach. The impact of space, sound or environmental artwork on learning, inspiring the child’s own creativity, the significance of alphabetical codes and cognitive skills, the role of light in forming perceptions at an early stage are some of the concepts that are paid attention to in the exhibition.
The exhibition will end with screenings of few exceptional audio-visual movies dealing with the culture of childhood and the city of Reggio Emillia in Italy that made The Wonder of Learning come into existence, followed by another fascinating session on the concept of how children communicate with nature for a life-long learning.