The educational practices of the municipality of Reggio Emilia, Italy, are celebrated as among the best in the world. Inspired by this educational system, schools across America have adapted the Reggio Emilia approach. Yet, music educators may be unaware of its principles as the approach is not often discussed in music education literature. The purpose of this article is to describe the major tenets of the Reggio Emilia approach and to suggest how its principles might be incorporated into American music classroom contexts. Suggestions include creating a constructivist classroom, documenting student learning, and using the physical classroom environment to entice musicking.
AndressB. (1998). Where’s the music in “The Hundred Languages of Children?”General Music Today, 11(3), 14–17.
2.
BondV. L. (2012). Sounds to share: The state of music education in three Reggio-inspired American preschools (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from Proquest Dissertations and Theses (AAT 3516146).
3.
BergerA. A.CooperS. (2003). Musical play: A case study of preschool children and parents. Journal of Research in Music Education, 51, 151–165. doi: 10.2307/3345848
4.
ChenC.-D. (2000). Constructivism in general music education: A music teacher’s lived experience (Doctoral dissertation). Available from ProQuest Dissertations and Theses database. (AAT 9971045)
5.
CrispB.CaldwellL. (2007). Orff-Schulwerk and the Reggio approaches are interwoven successfully. The Orff Echo, 39(3), 26–30.
6.
EdwardsC. P.GandiniL.FormanG. E. (2011). Introduction: Background and starting points. In EdwardsC. P.GandiniL.FormanG. E. (Eds.), The hundred languages of children: The Reggio Emilia experience in transformation (3rd ed., pp. 5–26). Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger.
7.
GandiniL. (2011a). Connecting through caring and learning spaces. In EdwardsC. P.GandiniL.FormanG. E. (Eds.), The hundred languages of children: The Reggio Emilia experience in transformation (3rd ed., pp. 317–342). Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger.
8.
GandiniL. (2011b). History, ideas, and basic principles: An interview with Loris Malaguzzi. In EdwardsC. P.GandiniL.FormanG. E. (Eds.), The hundred languages of children: The Reggio Emilia experience in transformation (3rd ed., pp. 27–72). Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger.
9.
GardnerH. (2008). Five minds for the future. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.
10.
GruenhagenL. M. (2007). Investigating professional development: Early childhood music teacher learning in a community of practice (Doctoral dissertation). Available from ProQuest Dissertations and Theses database. (AAT 3295323)
11.
KantrowitzB.WingertP. (1991). The best schools in the world. Newsweek, 118(23), 50–53.
12.
MalaguzziL. (1994). A bill of three rights. Innovations in Early Education: The International Reggio Exchange, 2(1), 1.
13.
MarshK.YoungS. (2006). Musical play. In McPhersonG. E. (Ed.), The child as musician: A handbook of musical development (pp. 289–310). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
14.
MatthewsC. L. (2000). No known destination: Pre-primary music and Reggio Emilia. In Spotlight on early childhood music education (pp. 20–22). Reston, VA: MENC.
15.
MoorheadG. E.PondD. (1978). Music of young children: Pillsbury Foundation studies. Santa Barbara, CA: Pillsbury Foundation for Advancement of Music Education. (Original work published 1941)
16.
NewR. S. (2007). Reggio Emilia as cultural activity theory in practice. Theory Into Practice, 46, 5–13.
17.
O’HaginI. B. (2007). Musical learning and Reggio Emilia. In SmithrimK.UpitisR. (Eds.), Listen to their voices: Research and practice in early childhood music (pp. 196–210). Waterloo, Ontario, Canada: CMEA.
18.
RinaldiC. (2011). The pedagogy of listening: The listening perspective from Reggio Emilia. In EdwardsC. P.GandiniL.FormanG. E. (Eds.), The hundred languages of children: The Reggio Emilia experience in transformation (3rd ed., pp. 233–246). Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger.
19.
SalmonA. (2010). Using music to promote children’s thinking and enhance their literacy development. Early Child Development and Care, 180, 937–945. doi:10.1080/03004430802550755
20.
ScottS. (2006). A constructivist view of music education: Perspectives for deep learning. General Music Today, 19(2), 17–21. doi:10.1177/10483713060190020105
21.
ScottS. (2010). A minds-on approach to active learning in general music. General Music Today, 24(1), 19–26. doi: 10.1177/1048371309354432
22.
SissonJ. H. (2009). Making sense of competing constructs of teacher as professional. Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 23, 351–356.
23.
SmallC. (1998). Musicking: The meanings of performing and listening. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press.
24.
SmithA. P. (2011). The incorporation of principles of the Reggio Emilia approach in a North American pre-school music curriculum. In BurtonS. L.TaggartC. C. (Eds.), Learning from young children: Research in early childhood music (pp. 79–93). Lanham, MD: MENC/Rowman & Littlefield Education.
25.
Strong-WilsonT.EllisJ. (2007). Children and place: Reggio Emilia’s environment as third teacher. Theory Into Practice, 46, 40–47.
26.
VuckovicA.NylandB. (2007). Music as a language of childhood: A snapshot of three children. In de VriesP.SouthcottJ. (Eds.), Proceedings of the XXIXth Annual Conference: 2–4 July 2007. Music education research, values and initiatives (pp. 144–154). Melbourne, Victoria, Australia: Australian Association for Research in Music Education.
27.
VygotskyL. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher mental processes (ColeM.John-SteinerV.ScribnerS.SoubermanE., Eds. & Trans.). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
28.
WiensS. (2009). One of the hundred: Reggio inspirations in an Orff-based classroom. Teaching Today for Tomorrow, 25, 17–30.
29.
WoodwardS. C. (2005). Critical matters in early childhood music education. In ElliotD. J. (Ed.), Praxial music education: Reflections and dialogues (pp. 249–266). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
30.
WurmJ. P. (2005). Working in the Reggio way. St. Paul, MN: Redleaf Press.
31.
YoungS. (2002). Young children’s spontaneous vocalizations in free play: Observations of two-to three-year-olds in a day care setting. Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, 152, 43–53.
32.
YoungS. (2003). Time-space structuring in spontaneous play on educational percussion instruments among three- and four-year-olds. British Journal of Music Education, 20, 45–59.
