Graphic Schemas
Drawings from the children and why they are so important
Day 3-4
Encouraging children to divulge their interest through graphical schema, they can not only help us understand what they are interested in, but also to help us understand where they are at with understanding.
The representation of first, second, and multiple references back to the graphical schema can help us become more detailed in the concepts that are being understood by the child again and again. This visual representation is especially important in the early stages of research, as it helps us know where to go next.
After spending the morning with mark making tools and unexpected material supports (ie., paper, card stock, sand paper, bubble wrap, tissue, cardboard, etc.), this specific exhibition helped me reflect on the tools, such as felts, chalk, pastel, wax crayons- each with its own "marker identity" and the surfaces/supports needed to create many different visual representations.
Children can reach their full potential for spoken and unspoken language, one being graphical schema (or mark making), to be able to express themselves, and communicate their understanding of the the world.
Through the mastering of these tools (which can look like weeks and months of constant exposure to them on a daily basis), children begin to master the tools and gain multiple points of view towards a subject through creative expression and express their knowledge as one of the many languages of children.
Visual Representation
using light, colour, and shadow to enhance our connection to our self, our world, and others.
Taking a detailed approach with project work, "thought provoking" adults can help trigger ideas and concepts through our knowing the culture of the child. We as adults need to seize the unexpected...
make connections as they come.
It starts with deep listening and conversation. Pondering questions and focusing on the unknown, with encouragement of community, peers, and worldly experience to gain deeper perspective of topics.
Once we notice connections we, as adults, mark boundaries around the topic that we want the focus to be.
Visual representation can take many forms including photography, light and shadow exploration, and amplification in many different forms, including using natural sunlight to form variance and depth.
REMIDA
Mechanical Workshops transformed into an innovative neighbourhood, where research, entrepreneurship, and education come together to face the challenges of the future.
In Reggio Emilia, (just a short walk from the Loris Malaguzzi International Centre) is Remida, an international partner project. It is a large, multipurpose warehouse that is a centre of creative recycling, and has since expanded to many other countries worldwide.
The various material donations are supplied to Remida for organizations, education systems, and membership holders to come and explore materials, encouraging the manipulation and exploration of the materials.
This specific cultural and educational project transforms industrial leftovers (donated from various businesses, and companies), that have no use for, or would otherwise be thrown away. These (unused, toxic-free) items are stored and organized used to be explored and manipulated in new ways.
Remida is deeply connected to the ideas of Reggio, emphasizing:
-children are capable creative thinkers
-material exploration as part of learning
-environmental responsibility through the reuse of materials
-the ideas that materials carry "aesthetic and expressive potential"
