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ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT
The Reggio Emilia approach is identified as a resource and inspiration in the field of early childhood education. The term ‘Reggio Inspired’ refers to all Reggio Emilia approach-based practices outside of Reggio Emilia, Italy. This paper presents a comprehensive study of Reggio Inspired empirical research. Results from an integrative review of the literature (51 unique studies) reveal the lack of outcome research to support the efficacy of the implementation of Reggio Inspired practices and the varied nature of this body of literature. After providing a survey of the literature on Reggio Inspired approaches from around the world, we propose an integrative framework that offers both a structure for future research and a tool for synthesizing literature rooted in the transplantation of Reggio Emilia approach to other contexts, the Reggio Inspired Research Re-framework.
The global influence of the Reggio approach to early childhood education is considerable. The public system of childcare and education in Reggio Emilia, Italy, is identified as a source of reference and inspiration to early childhood educators from all over the world (Edwards, Gandini, and Forman 2012). Yet, ‘one of the most curious pieces of the Reggio approach to education has been the idea that the Reggio Emilians welcome people investigating their ways of teaching and learning; however, they do not believe that anyone else can be Reggio’ (Merz and Glover 2006, 30). The first paradox is one can love the Reggio approach but you cannot be Reggio, unless you are in Reggio Emilia. Educators and pedagogical leaders in Reggio Emilia demand contextual interpretations of their values and principles because their work with young children is deeply rooted in concrete Italian cultural norms and practices. In other words, the Reggio Emilia approach has specific ties to Italian notions of citizenship, beliefs about community and perspectives on education (Hewett 2001). The term ‘Reggio Inspired’ originated as a label for teachers outsideReggio Emilia who began implementing Reggio principles in their own contexts. Each new context requires a process of transplantation, a translation and adaptation of principles into a new context, which is inspired by Reggio but cannot replicate the Reggio approach (Edwards, Gandini, and Forman 1998).
Publications describing the Reggio approach are plentiful (e.g. Edwards, Gandini, and Forman 2012; Hall 2010; New 2000). There is an existing body of knowledge regarding student-centered learning in early childhood education that can be related to Reggio, specifically because it speaks to the capability of young children (Linder, Powers-Costello, and Stegelin 2011). However, a comprehensive story of the Reggio Inspired research has yet to be told. The literature focused on Reggio Inspired research is composed mostly of reflections, comparisons between different philosophies for early childhood education and very few empirical studies, leaving a central question unanswered. Specifically, does empirical support exist for the replication and continued discussion of the Reggio Inspired approach? What is our understanding of the Reggio Inspired approach as the field of early childhood education moves forward? This paper presents results from an integrative literature review of research related to ‘Reggio Inspired’ approaches from around the world. The integrative literature review method was attractive for synthesizing ‘Reggio Inspired’ literature emanating from different physical locations and cultural contexts. The integrative literature review offers a method of research that gathers, reviews and synthesizes literature in a way that invites fresh frameworks for understanding the topic of study (Torraco 2005). The results from this review present a landscape of existing literature as well as a provocation for reframing the literature for a deeper understanding.
Introduction
The preschools in Reggio Emilia, Italy, are commonly recognized as the best preschools in the world (Gardner 2012; Hewett 2001; Lindsay 2015; McNally and Slutsky 2017). Reggio Emilia, a prosperous region in Northern Italy, is home to the Reggio Emilia approach to early childhood education. The approach is not composed of discrete instructional practices, but rather a collection of values and principles to guide interactions with children and the community characterized by the distinctly child-centered focus of the founder, Loris Malaguzzi (1920–1994). The driving principles include unique conceptions of (a) the image of the child; (b) the roles of parents, space, time and the community; (c) documentation; (d) cooperation; (e) collaboration; (f) projects and (g) attention to the visual arts (Morrow 2010). These broad concepts and foci are considered tightly woven, interconnected and mutually influencing (Gandini 2012). The Reggio approach is not a formal model because it does not include defined methods; instead, the teachers of the Reggio approach would describe their approach as an evolving experience (Edwards, Gandini, and Forman 1998; Katz and Cesarone 1994; Malaguzzi 1998; New 2000). Evaluative studies of children’s outcomes have never been conducted on the Reggio approach (Dodd-Nufrio 2011). The act of measuring children’s growth and understanding, defined as boundless by the Reggio approach, is contrary to the core principles. Malaguzzi’s vision and Reggio Emilia educators’ practices embody a continuous goal of broadening understanding and providing more opportunities for children to discover and invent. This second paradox asserts that the designation of an end point for the sake of outcome measurement truncates the growth and experience for both students and teachers. This conceptualization rejects the notion of measuring children’s educational outcomes because, ‘a predictor that predetermines the result … becomes a sort of prison for the child and for the teacher, and for the human being’ (Rinaldi 2006, 143). Despite the lack of empirical research on program outcomes, the preschools of Reggio Emilia, Italy, have become increasingly well known and highly regarded in early childhood education (Katz and Chard 1996; Linder et al., 2011; New 2000; Rinaldi 2012).
The Reggio approach aligns with and is referenced within the (United States) National Association for the Education of Young Children’s (NAEYC) position statement on Developmentally Appropriate Practice (Copple and Bredekamp 2009). In addition, the Reggio approach is personally moving to early childhood practitioners from around the world. Many Reggio Inspired articles begin by expressing the profound impact that exposure to the Reggio approach had on the authors (Dighe, Calomiris, and Van Zutphen 1998). These Reggio Inspired approach publications describe the admiration, study and adoption of the principles of Reggio Emilia outside Italy (e.g. Sisson 2009; Trepanier-Street, Hong, and Donegan 2001). We know the Reggio approach continues to captivate and motivate teachers in reflective and narrative publications; however, two obstacles separate the Reggio approach from its admirers outside the Reggio Emilia region of Italy. First, all settings located outside Reggio Emilia must contend with the notion that the practices are contextually dependent (Strong-Wilson and Ellis 2007). Second, most settings outside Reggio must utilize empirical support as rationale for their actions and proof of their efficacy. We must acknowledge the challenges that those inspired by the Reggio approach encounter as well as recognize the inherent contradiction of the goals of this paper. We propose the study of what should not be studied. We concede that Reggio Inspired work is rooted in the inimitable. We conjecture that the landscape of the literature will be broad and diverse.
We also expect the transplantation, the relocation and adaptation of the Reggio approach across physical locations, cultural contexts and dispositions toward outcome measurement, to explicitly or implicitly frame all studies of the wider implementation of the approach. After compiling the collection of literature, it became apparent that the psychological framework of international adjustment could be helpful for reframing the literature. The international adjustment framework provides a combined explanation of cross-cultural organizational behavior (Gelfand, Erez, and Aycan 2007) and international adjustment (Black, Mendenhall, and Oddou 1991) of job candidates transitioning into new cross-cultural or international work situations (Black, Mendenhall, and Oddou 1991). There are striking similarities between the processes of a person taking a job in a new country and an educator transplanting the Reggio approach into their practice. Both processes involve relocation, translation and adaptation across cultures, contexts and countries.
In many ways, a simple synthesis of this literature collection could be misleading. We would dismiss all of the varied cultural and contextual influences inherent in the Reggio approach if we were to synthesize the literature under the assumptions that each teacher’s Reggio Inspired approach is similar despite their different contexts. We could provide a broad but depthless perspective of where and what Reggio Inspired practices were occurring around the world if we were to summarize the varieties of contexts and topics within the literature. However, if we positioned this integrative literature review to look toward influential factors permeating all of the inquiries regarding Reggio Inspired approaches, we would be forced to consider the consistent thread of transplantation throughout the literature. What, then, does the last 30 years of empirical research tell us about the inspiration, practice and outcomes of Reggio Inspired practices taking place outside Reggio Emilia, Italy?
International adjustment framework
The international adjustment framework is an amalgamation of trends in both domestic and international psychological adjustment literature. The domestic adjustment literature focuses on how new employees adjust (mode) and rate of adjustment (degree), whereas the international adjustment literature focuses on external influences including overseas experiences, candidate selection criteria, candidate skills and nonwork factors once on the job (Black, Mendenhall, and Oddou 1991). The international adjustment framework distills the contributing factors in a successful cross-cultural transition. International adjustment research should not try to construct multiple bodies of knowledge for each individual type of job into which people might possibly transition abroad. Instead, this psychological framework takes a systematic approach to considering individual anticipatory factors such as predeparture preparation, accurate expectations for transition, the organizational culture of the transplant site and differences between host and home country cultures. These influential factors of cross-cultural transitions are the common thread among all Reggio Inspired research (Reggio inspiration and training; teaching experience and accurate expectations for trying a new approach; the culture of the host class, school and community and the differences between host and home country cultures).
Much as a job candidate (the Reggio approach) is adapted and reframed within a new job abroad (new school context), the Reggio Inspired approaches are the results of similar adaptations and transformations. Most education researchers are accustomed to exploring isolated aspects of the implementation of particular new educational practices within the context of one country or setting at a time. But a comprehensive study of Reggio Inspired approaches requires a more simultaneous consideration of the exposure (Reggio inspiration), implementation (Reggio Inspired approaches) and contexts (host communities, schools, classrooms, teachers and students) of Reggio Inspired work. Just like a job candidate’s experience working overseas, Reggio Inspired approaches are both individual interpretations and contextually influenced processes. The international adjustment framework offers a critical lens for examining the work in this collection as well as a new direction for future work regarding the Reggio approach’s transposition through Reggio Inspired approaches.
Materials and methods
The research team conducted an integrative review of literature on Reggio Inspired approaches to early childhood education in the spring of 2017. The central question guiding the literature review was: What patterns of study are represented within the current body of research on Reggio Inspired approaches to early childhood education? The research team used six search criteria to determine inclusion of articles, which were (a) published after 1985, (b) published in a peer-reviewed journal, (c) grounded in empirical research, (d) focused on young children or preservice/in-service teachers serving young children (birth to age 8), (e) written in English and (f) about research conducted outside Reggio Emilia, Italy. Only one article was from Italy, but located outside the town of Reggio Emilia, the article comes from the cities of Genoa and La Spezia. The 1985 inclusion date was selected because of the significant increase in Reggio Inspired work that emerged surrounding the preliminary presentation on the Reggio approach in the United States at the annual conference of the (United States) NAEYC in Anaheim in 1987 (New 2000).
Both criterion and snowball sampling methods were used to identify literature utilizing a specific list of terms focused on Reggio Inspired contexts. Search terms included Reggio, Reggio-Inspired, Reggio-Inspired approach, Reggio + education, Reggio + documentation, Reggio + progettazione, Reggio + atelier. The following databases were reviewed: Academic Search Premier (EBSCO), ERIC (Proquest), Education Research Complete, Education Full Text (H.W.Wilson), SocINDEX, PsycINFO, Professional Development Collection, Teacher Reference Center, Academic Search Premier and Academic Search Alumni Edition. Some of the criterion sorting was conducted electronically through the use of search engine filters. Snowball sampling was conducted by considering the reference sections from theoretical articles and dissertations related to the Reggio Inspired approaches. Additional publications were located from the reference lists of included articles.
Literature selection process
The search and selection process was conducted in two separate reviews; title and abstract search and whole article consideration. The first review occurred within the digital search engine processes. Search engine filters allowed for systematic key term searches and controlled searched within the desired language and date of publication. The authors then reviewed article titles and abstracts produced by the digital searches to identify work focused on young children or preservice/in-service teachers serving young children (birth to age 8) outside Reggio Emilia, Italy. The final stage of this wave was to consider whether or not the article was empirical. Therefore, articles that were clearly theoretical, discussion, commentary, review or editorials were excluded. Sometimes this was difficult to determine based only on the title and abstract alone; articles in question were included in the initial collection. A total of 189 unique articles were collected in the first review.
The second review consisted of a closer look at each individual article. A full read of the article assisted in determining whether the article was indeed empirical and if it was sufficiently related to Reggio Inspired work. It was imperative that the articles reviewed concentrated explicitly on an element of a Reggio Inspired approach. Many articles appeared in the search results for mere mentions of the Reggio approach within their literature review or within the description of the study sample context. We concluded that an explicit link to the Reggio approach was necessary for inclusion in our review about Reggio Inspired work. Specifically, we excluded research that merely mentioned that the study ‘took place in a Reggio Inspired preschool’ without describing something about how the school was Reggio Inspired or what relationships were hypothesized between the Reggio Inspired approaches in use. Finally, we considered the empirical nature of the articles more closely by looking for research questions, methods sections, data collection and analysis. Some articles were included from practitioner journals, only when authors explicitly referenced and briefly described an empirical study as the foundation for the article. We excluded 46 articles because they were not empirical. Another 92 studies lacking a clear focus on, or relationship to, Reggio Inspired approaches were excluded from the final review analysis.
Summary and contexts of included articles
The final collection included 51 unique articles. Articles were identified from journals related to research specific to early childhood, special education, teacher professional development, art, general educational research and psychology. The majority of studies were qualitative in nature (n = 43 or 84%); a number of the studies were not grounded in a traditional qualitative approach (an explicitly stated and clearly described approach including case study, ethnography, phenomenology or grounded theory). In those cases, we categorized them as general qualitative studies (n = 14). Very few quantitative (n = 4) or mixed methods (n = 3) studies were identified. Table 1 outlines the overall demographics for identified articles.
A review of research of the Reggio Inspired approach: an integrative re-framing
Published online:
08 April 2019Table 1. Article descriptives (n = 51 articles).
We found work spanning a wide variety of settings and participants; 60% of identified research took place in the United States, followed by a small amount of research taking place in Canada and Sweden. Almost half of the identified studies included participants ranging from ages 3–5 years. Some of these studies also concentrated on preservice and in-service educators as research participants. The majority of studies utilized small numbers of early childhood teachers working with preschool aged children as the primary research participants. Interestingly, it was impossible to find studies based on infant or toddler settings (birth to age 2). The aims of these studies were largely exploratory. The majority of the papers were focused on understanding the phenomenon of Reggio Inspired approaches without exploring child outcomes or approach efficacy. This is important to note, as our review reveals, that there is no empirical outcome research to support the efficacy of the implementation of Reggio Inspired programs or practices. A synthesis of the empirical outcome research on Reggio Inspired practices was therefore impossible.
Upon these discoveries, we decided to organize the Reggio Inspired approaches collection into related topic areas in order to provide a survey of the body of knowledge. Every article was read through by each member of the research team to gather an overall understanding of the data. After reading all of the literature, the team revisited each work searching for similarities and differences. Then, each team member independently assigned a topic code to the articles, which related to the type of overall contribution made to Reggio Inspired approaches literature. These emergent topic codes, as well as descriptive information on each paper such as research questions, method and major findings, were entered into an excel spreadsheet. Then, team members worked collaboratively to organize the collection into topic groups (see Table 2). This targeted comparison sought to determine how different studies were related in an attempt to understand both the body of knowledge and the gaps within Reggio Inspired empirical work. Despite the diversity of the studies, we found patterns within the literature exploring perspectives (teacher, administrator, child and parent experience with Reggio Inspired principles or practices) or examining absorption of Reggio Inspired principles (inquiries studying the application of individual principles, measuring changes in preservice teachers’ beliefs and understanding of principles or measuring changes as a result of the implementation of Reggio Inspired principles). These organizational topic groups were helpful in illustrating a survey of the literature: (a) teacher/administrative perspectives and practices, (b) focused inquiries, (c) preservice teacher education, (d) child or parent participation and (e) efficacy studies (see Figure 1).
A review of research of the Reggio Inspired approach: an integrative re-framing
Published online:
08 April 2019Table 2. Topic group definitions and refinements.
A review of research of the Reggio Inspired approach: an integrative re-framing
Published online:
08 April 2019![]({"type":"image","src":"/na101/home/literatum/publisher/tandf/journals/content/ceye20/0/ceye20.ahead-of-print/09575146.2019.1591350/20190408/images/medium/ceye_a_1591350_f0001_b.gif"})
Figure 1. Distribution of organizational topics.
Results
General survey of international Reggio Inspired research
What follows is a brief description of the categories defined above. These descriptions provide a broad overview of the research being conducted on Reggio Inspired settings.
Teacher and administrative perspectives and practices
The Reggio approach values equal partners (administrators, teachers, families and children working together) in young children’s education (Gandini 1993). Teachers and administrators have an important role in crafting a Reggio Inspired experience. The Reggio approach driving principles of collaboration is reflected in this largest collection of articles (49%) related to teacher or administrative perspectives and practices. These articles focused less on finite routines or procedures and aimed at understanding the benefits and challenges of teachers and administrators shifting their perspectives and ideas toward Reggio principles in unique contexts. Reflections from Tehran, Sweden and the United States are drawn from a variety of data sources such as teacher reflections, principal narratives and documentation of children’s work. The almost exclusively qualitative articles representing work related to the Reggio Inspired approach or exploration of Reggio Inspired initiatives fell into two subthemes: teacher voice and macro Reggio.
Teacher voice
The review revealed that teachers from around the world, the United States, Sweden, Australia and the United Kingdom, actively sought or experienced shifts in their perspective toward approaches to teaching, such as meaning making, the image of the child or collaboration, by way of professional development or intentional reflection.
Macro Reggio
Another collection of teacher and administrative perspective articles described or examined some process of blending of Reggio Inspired principles with other goals in unique school settings, for example an American Reggio preschool (Salmon 2008) as well as a Reggio Inspired initiative in a school in Iran (Vajargah, Arefi, and Taraghija 2010).
Focused inquiries
The second largest collection of articles is distinctive for a number of reasons. First, this collection is composed of articles directed toward a particular construct either within a Reggio Inspired setting or derived explicitly from Reggio principles. The articles in the group emphasize the Reggio approach’s principle of documentation. Second, this collection contains the newest collection of articles (published between 2008 and 2015) and includes both quantitative and experimental designs. Finally, this collection includes the only article that originates from Italy, but outside Reggio Emilia. These elements reflect the persistent novelty of Reggio Inspired settings as well as the rarity, or recent development, of focused inquiries within these settings. These data suggest a recent development within the literature to situate Reggio Inspired settings and research frameworks within the greater landscape of early childhood education and development, by using quantitative methods, comparative and experimental designs. The majority of the focused inquiry topics were unique with the exception of music and documentation, which appeared more than once. Literature on Reggio Inspired approaches is redefining documentation in the United States and in the United Kingdom as well as celebrating the general utility of Reggio Inspired documentation.
Preservice teacher education
The introduction outlined the prevalence of the principles of the Reggio approach in documents guiding the field of early childhood education. Thus, it is not surprising that this analysis revealed a collection of articles presenting how elements of the Reggio Inspired approach are being incorporated into teacher training programs and evaluating the efficacy of their inclusion. Five driving principles of the Reggio approach appeared among the preservice teacher collection. These studies considered changes among preservice teachers’ understanding and application of the principles of the image of the child, the roles of space and time, cooperation, collaboration and projects. This collection of articles (16%) focused on changes in undergraduate reflectivity with regard to the image of the child (Bowne et al. 2012), inquiry-oriented teaching in reference to project work (Moran 2002), peer collaboration and cooperation (future teacher collaboration) (Moran 2002) and perceptions of outdoor teaching settings within the scope of the role of space in education (Torquati and Ernst 2013) with explicit references to roots in a Reggio Inspired approach.
Child and parent participation
The fourth collection of articles (8%) comprises articles simultaneously drawing on a number of driving principles of the Reggio approach studies from Canada, Sweden, England and the United States, illustrating child and parent participation and perceptions of Reggio Inspired implementation. These articles offered insights into how children and parents took on leadership properties, as protagonists, in a variety of situations. None of these studies employed pre/post-designs or attempted to measure the amount of parent or child participation. Instead, focus groups, interviews, ethnography and case studies described Reggio Inspired project learning (Martin and Evaldsson 2012; Massey and Burnard 2006) and exploration (Swann 2008) among young children.
Efficacy of Reggio Inspired approaches
None of the articles found reported on the quality or efficacy of Reggio Inspired programs or practices. This gap in the Reggio Inspired literature of early childhood reflects the philosophy of the Reggio approach, which contests the relevance of empirical outcome research. Much like the Reggio Inspired author who wrote, ‘The learning continues. There is no conclusion, only process’ (Gillespie 2000, 27), this review seems to suggest a notion shared throughout the literature.
These topically organized groups helped to answer whether or not there is empirical outcome support for the replication and continued discussion of Reggio Inspired approaches in early childhood education. In addition to discovering the lack of outcome research in Reggio Inspired settings, we were able to apply the international adjustment framework as a new tool for understanding this collection of Reggio Inspired research, with greater attention to the process of transplantation.
Reframing Reggio Inspired research
Reframing this body of literature with the international adjustment framework shifts the focus away from the different permutations of the Reggio Inspired approaches and toward the processes of transplantation. For example, the diverse nature and individual specificity of the teacher and administrative perspectives and practices topic group (n = 25) papers made them too different to compare or combine. The aims of the articles were varied; yet, each article described an element of the practitioner process of Reggio inspiration or implementation. These articles mostly focused on the who (teacher inspiration) or the how (teachers’ Reggio Inspired beliefs understandings within practice) without regard for contextual influences. However, the contexts of the studies varied widely from experiences implementing Reggio Inspired approaches within public and private preschools, to federally funded Head Start programs, or kindergartens and primary schools. As outlined above, the international adjustment framework offers a solution to this diverse yet parallel collection of studies. We must consider the exposure (Reggio inspiration), the implementation (Reggio Inspired approaches) and the contexts (host communities, schools, classrooms, teachers and students) of this collection Reggio Inspired literature simultaneously. Reggio Inspired approaches will always be both individual interpretations and contextually influenced processes.
Using the international adjustment framework as a guide, we created a new tool for considering this body of literature the Reggio Inspired Research Re-framework. Figure 2 represents how we used the international adjustment framework to reform the typical framework used to study Reggio Inspired work into the re-framework. When we applied the Reggio Inspired Research Re-framework to these works, we were able to see where the work was located within the process of adjustment and how the studies accounted for or overlooked transitional influences. The who, in these cases, should have been more than a list of basic information (sex, socio economic status (SES), mean test scores, years of teaching experience, geographic location, race/ethnicity) about students, teachers and school populations. Specifically, the international adjustment framework suggests that in addition to the traditional who, the rationale for, and type of, Reggio exposure are also important to note. Thereafter, the transplantation process occurs when the focal elements collide with existing structures such as the teacher within their school context, the application of Reggio Inspired approaches, the school culture, school reception and community responses. All of these elements predict the mode (how) and degree of adjustment (pedagogical integration, teacher buy-in and overall transplantation of Reggio Inspired approaches). These details regarding the expanded contextual influences among Reggio Inspired approaches were only found within a few articles.
A review of research of the Reggio Inspired approach: an integrative re-framing
Published online:
08 April 2019![]({"type":"image","src":"/na101/home/literatum/publisher/tandf/journals/content/ceye20/0/ceye20.ahead-of-print/09575146.2019.1591350/20190408/images/medium/ceye_a_1591350_f0002_b.gif"})
Figure 2. Framework for studying Reggio Inspired approaches.
Three articles aimed to study the influences of teachers’ Reggio Inspired professional development (the who, inspiration) within specific contexts (the how, home-country context) (Lyon and Donahue 2009; Maynard and Chicken 2010; Zorec 2015). Importantly, Lyon and Donahue (2009) in the context of US urban public education, Zorec (2015) in Slovenia and Maynard and Chicken (2010) in Wales clearly situated their research between teacher training and specific school contexts. They paint a necessarily multidimensional picture of the who by providing descriptions of teachers’ years of experience, education and initial Reggio Inspired understanding as well as home-country contextual details such as the educational politics and history within the country and city, school and class student demographics. These details set the stage for their studies of the efficacy of three different Reggio Inspired professional development programs. Despite the unique research designs of these three studies, the summaries of teacher inspiration are comparable when the studies are situated within the international adjustment framework. Similarities can be identified. Teachers, recently exposed to Reggio Inspired approaches, across three countries shared challenges with and changings beliefs toward allowing child-centered emergent ideas to drive projects and classroom environments; comprehending their role as teachers, collaborating with children rather than leading; and finding time for documentation.
Discussion
Importantly, the international adjustment framework provides a pragmatic method for synthesizing personal transplantation experiences. The process of transplanting the Reggio approach is influenced by both personal and contextual factors. These nuanced elements of Reggio Inspired approach research made a traditional synthesis of research difficult. However, the international adjustment framework provided a pathway to a more objective frame, the Reggio Inspired Research Re-framework (Figure 2), that avoided distraction by the uniquely personal and naturally divergent details of Reggio Inspired work and highlighted the shared elements of the processes of transplantation.
Some limitations of this study are important to note. First, we only searched for research written in English. Reggio Inspired approaches occur all over the world in many other languages other than English. This may have limited our attempts at a comprehensive collection. Second, we only included research published in peer-reviewed research journals with the intention of ensuring high-quality empirical research; however, the decision resulted in the exclusion of book chapters and dissertations that could have been included in our collection.
First, this work sounds a call for increased quantitative and mixed methods research in addition to increased qualitative research regarding the benefits, challenges and efficacy of the Reggio Inspired approach which includes the contextual details of the research sample that informs the Reggio Inspired approach’s core. Further, there is no published research from birth to age 2 settings, which represents a significant portion of the population within early childhood settings. Finally, a call is needed for educational research to explore Reggio Inspired settings in a longitudinal fashion, particularly to understand transitional periods for children from informal to formal school settings. Increased empirical support stands to further the acceptance, understanding and implementation of Reggio Inspired practices in the field of early childhood education.
In addition, future studies of Reggio Inspired approaches should follow the Reggio Inspired research Re-framework to consider the contexts within which teachers both construct their beliefs and understandings and implement these approaches. In the future, researchers should focus on the transplantation processes of Reggio Inspired approaches. More information is necessary about teachers and settings in order to properly frame and situate individual inquiries among Reggio Inspired approach research. This integrative literature review highlights the need for a common framework for Reggio Inspired approach research by illustrating the diverse nature of the current body of work.
The Reggio approach is a world renowned approach to early childhood education that offers a child-centered, teacher-respected, community-included perspective that appeals to a wide variety of teachers outside Italy. However, there has never been a comprehensive study of Reggio Inspired literature. This integrative literature review is significant because it details the current body of Reggio Inspired approach research. The emergent organizational topic groups provided insights into what work has been done on Reggio Inspired approaches outside Italy. The recurring pattern among the studies is one of Italian inspiration followed by a small qualitative and reflective study of Reggio Inspired beliefs or implementation. The overarching message of the collection is that both benefits and challenges emanate from the implementation of Reggio Inspired principles outside the Italian context. However, the lack of contextual information provided within each study limited any further synthesis.
This broad but shallow collection of Reggio Inspired approach research both offers provocations and calls for a new research agenda within this future work. First, we suggest the international adjustment framework as a new outline for considering and designing future Reggio Inspired approach research. It is important to note that the international adjustment framework stresses the relationships between the before and after of Reggio transplantation, inspiration and outcomes in addition to the study of the implementation itself. This framework refrains from limiting Reggio Inspired approaches by demanding a definition of Reggio inspiration. Instead, the framework calls for the use of a wide lens for the study of Reggio Inspired approaches in order to facilitate synthesis across the body of literature in the future.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Table 1. Article descriptives (n = 51 articles).
| Total number | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1996–2000 | 3 |
| 2001–2005 | 5 | |
| 2006–2010 | 23 | |
| 2011–2015 | 20 | |
| 2016 | 0 | |
| Journal type | Early childhood research | 24 |
| Journals with an international focus | 13 | |
| Professional development | 10 | |
| Art | 2 | |
| Special education | 1 | |
| Psychology | 1 | |
| Study type | Qualitative | 4 |
| General qualitative | 15 | |
| Action research | 3 | |
| Case study | 9 | |
| Ethnographic | 11 | |
| Grounded theory | 5 | |
| Phenomenological | 2 | |
| Quasi-naturalistic | 1 | |
| Mixed methods research | 2 | |
| Country | United States | 32 |
| Canada | 4 | |
| Sweden | 4 | |
| Australia | 3 | |
| England | 2 | |
| New Zealand | 2 | |
| Slovenia | 2 | |
| Chile | 1 | |
| Germany | 1 | |
| Iran | 1 | |
| Italy | 1 | |
| Wales | 1 | |
| Highest age of children taught | Birth–2 | 0 |
| 3–5 | 23 | |
| 6–8 | 15 | |
| Primary | 10 | |
| n/a | 3 | |
Table 2. Topic group definitions and refinements.
| Topic | Definition of topic group | Primary qualifiers | Subtopics | Definition of subtopics | Secondary qualifiers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Teacher/Administrative perspectives and practices | Articles presenting teacher and administrative experiences with Reggio Inspired approaches | Data gathered primarily from teachers and administrators, with little to no child data, rooted in a specific early childhood setting Employed an overarching focus, with little to no specific content area or Reggio approach principle | Teacher voice | Articles featuring teacher professional development or reflection regarding shifts in perspective regarding Reggio Inspired approaches | Primarily presents teacher perspective |
| Macro Reggio | Articles featuring experiences of the blending of Reggio Inspired approaches into various early childhood settings | Explicit description of the shared experience or of the blending process of existing goals or practices | |||
| Focused inquiries in early childhood settings | Articles directed toward a particular construct either within a Reggio Inspired setting | Studied a pedagogical element within a clearly defined Reggio Inspired early childhood setting, data from children | Music | Articles featuring music within Reggio Inspired approaches | |
| Documentation | Articles featuring documentation or the redefinition of ‘documentation’ in Reggio Inspired approaches | ||||
| Preservice teacher education | Articles presenting how Reggio Inspired approaches are being incorporated into teacher training programs and the efficacy of their inclusion | Data gathered from educators or students in higher education settings The course content is explicitly Reggio Inspired and clearly defined | Reggio principle of focus | Articles feature study of preservice teachers understanding of a particular Reggio principle: the image of the child, the roles of space and time, cooperation, collaboration or projects | |
| Child and parent participation | Articles presenting child and parent participation or perceptions of Reggio Inspired approaches | Data gathered primarily from parents or children within a clearly defined Reggio Inspired early childhood setting | Parent voice Child voice Child participation | Articles synthesized parent or child experiences through the elicitation of their stories or measured participation | |
| Efficacy of Reggio Inspired approaches | Articles presenting outcome research on the implementation of Reggio Inspired approaches | Research focused on the results of the Reggio Inspired approaches (pre/post-designs, control groups etc.) | Causal relationships | Articles report results regarding the influence of the approach on outcomes |
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