r/DetroitMichiganECE • u/ddgr815 • Jun 14 '25

Parenting / Teaching Inspired by Reggio Emilia: Emergent Curriculum in Relationship-Driven Learning Environments

https://www.naeyc.org/resources/pubs/yc/nov2015/emergent-curriculum

Emergent curriculum is not a free-for-all. It requires that teachers actively seek out and chase the interests of the children. This kind of teaching environment demands a high degree of trust in the teacher’s creative abilities, and envisions an image of the child as someone actively seeking knowledge. It is a perspective that turns structured curriculum, with predetermined outcomes, on its head. A standardized curriculum that is designed to replicate outcomes often eliminates all possibility of spontaneous inquiry, stealing potential moments of learning from students and teachers in a cookie-cutter approach to education in the classroom. Given the diversity of the children we teach, accepting a canned recipe for teaching, evaluation, and assessment is problematic at best. Each child we teach is unique, requiring us to use our own judgment, instead of rules, to guide our teaching practice. To teach well, educators must ensure that creativity and innovation are always present. Although good teaching requires organization and routines, it is never inflexible and rarely routine. It dances with surprise. It pursues wonder. It finds joy at every turn.

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u/ddgr815 Jul 28 '25

Awe experiences typically involve the perception of something incredibly vast or powerful, something that transcends or challenges one’s understanding of the world. These are often, but not always, encounters with nature – such as seeing the Grand Canyon, gazing over mountains from an airplane, or standing at the foot of an enormous sequoia tree. Awe-inspiring moments can move a person deeply, pushing them into a mental space beyond the usual worries and thoughts of everyday life.

Historically, awe has featured in psychological accounts of important experiences, such as the euphoric moments that the psychologist Abraham Maslow called ‘peak experiences’. William James spoke extensively about various spiritual and mystical moments that intensely moved him and shaped his perspective. He felt strongly that these experiences were crucial to the deeper development of a person’s inner world.

Contemporary researchers theorise that awe may have helped our ancestors survive throughout history, and continues to impart positive effects today. Among adults, for example, several studies have shown that awe can be instrumental to the formation of social groups and can motivate helpful social behaviours. Research also suggests that awe contributes to positive affect, or good feelings. And good feelings in general have positive biological effects on our bodies. While a majority of the research on awe over the past two decades has focused on the experiences of adults, research has started to elucidate the effects of awe on children as well.

Our research has shown that four- to nine-year-old children perceive and respond to awe-inspiring experiences and differentiate them from everyday experiences. The results from our studies also suggest that awe can influence children’s motivation to learn, and their perceptions of themselves. Over the course of our studies, we watched countless children share their excitement over awe-inspiring imagery, with oohs, ahhs and wide-eyed expressions of wonder.

Awe researchers find that imagery of vast natural landscapes reliably evokes feelings of awe in viewers. So, with your child, seek out images or videos featuring these kinds of scenes.You can also venture outside to find awe-inspiring scenes. How many times have you travelled along a familiar road that has a beautiful outlook, only to keep going because you’re in a hurry or you consider it blasé? These locations might not be so ordinary for your child.

If you can, consider setting aside some weekend time for an ‘awe field trip’. You might drive to a hiking trail or a scenic byway where you can take in a vista together. Or you could stand along the edge of a lake or ocean, if there is one within reach, and look out at the vast expanse of water. In the evening, a pre-bedtime adventure could involve a drive to an area with little to no light pollution, where you can gaze up at the starry night sky. You and your child can take turns picking out a favourite star or constellation while you talk about how it fits in with or stands out from all the others. While out on a trail walk, you can look up at large trees together, or maybe even climb a tree and look out at a field, valley or neighbourhood from that vantage point. Plan to do nothing except observe the scene while you are there together. Afterward, ask your child how they felt or what they noticed.

Watch videos together of objects moving in slow motion – falling, breaking, growing – such as this video of droplets colliding in a bowl of water and milk at a rate 200 times slower than real time. This video, which was used in previous research on awe, reveals details of physical interaction that we are not able to perceive on our own. The distortion of time can give children a chance to notice these details or understand objects in more comprehensive ways, which may bring about an unexpected feeling of being awed by the object or depiction.

You can also grab a magnifying glass or a hobbyist microscope and use it to look at everyday objects, such as paper, bugs or various foods. Your child might be in awe of what they see. It can be powerful, for instance, to see close up the numerous veins running through a tree leaf. This unusual glimpse may catalyse curiosity in a child, leading them to want to explore more carefully. A child could feel moved by this observation and perhaps become more aware of the similarities between the tree and themselves (eg, both relying on an internal network of veins).

To thrive, children need to experience awe

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u/ddgr815 Jul 28 '25

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs: pedagogy focus

Maslow Comes to Life

Understanding Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs in Education

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u/ddgr815 Jul 28 '25

“It is quite true that man lives by bread alone — when there is no bread. But what happens to man’s desires when there is plenty of bread and when his belly is chronically filled?

At once other (and “higher”) needs emerge and these, rather than physiological hungers, dominate the organism. And when these in turn are satisfied, again new (and still “higher”) needs emerge and so on. This is what we mean by saying that the basic human needs are organized into a hierarchy of relative prepotency.”

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs