What is the Reggio Emilia Philosophy?

Named after its birthplace in Italy, this approach began as a vision by a local teacher to rebuild the community after the devastating effects of World War II. The approach focuses on the importance of cultivating young minds and has gained worldwide recognition as best practice for its unique vision of early childhood education.

Inspired by this philosophy, Nido follows the belief that the child, parent, community and environment are all essential to the early years learning process.

Nido educator and kid collecting leaves from garden area

The Nido Philosophy

Each child has the right to make choices in regard to their learning and should feel a strong sense of well-being
As the environment is the ‘third teacher’, it is essential that our physical spaces are set up to encourage engagement and exploration
The environment should reflect both our love of nature and views on sustainability
Building relationships with families and encouraging a high degree of involvement, is key
Learning is ongoing and we constantly seek to develop our own knowledge to offer richer experiences to our children

Bringing our philosophy to life

Our philosophy is not just theoretical; we live and breathe it. It impacts everything from our lesson plans to where the cucina is located in the building.

Project-based learning:

When children are interested, they learn. Our Educators are skilled in understanding each child’s individual interests and use these interests to drive project-based learning.

Interactions and relationships:

Given that human interaction develops a child’s brain, relationships are key, not only with their Educator, but also parents and other community members. As valued partners in children’s learning, this extended community are often invited into the classroom setting.

Nido teacher helping kid to understand the chart

kids eating ice cream at nido child care centre

Active citizenship:

Teaching children the importance of being a good person, to look after their peers and take a sustainable approach to life, is key to us and in doing so, helps make the world a far better place.

Role of the educator:

Our Educators play many roles; teacher, co-learner or researcher, depending on what Children need to support their holistic learning and development.

Using a child’s unique imagination:

Children will express themselves using the resources available in their environment. We will offer your child daily opportunities to speak up, write, create, paint, build, dance and represent their thinking and personalities in many different ways.

Reggio Emilia and Montessori

Reggio Emilia and Montessori, both founded in 20th century Italy, are two similar educational philosophies but with different methodologies. Both are child-centric educational approaches that foster curiosity, creativity and life-long learning.

The fundamental differences between the two systems are as follows:

	Reggio Emilia approach	Montessori
Key focus	Collaborative, project based learning	Individualised learning
Role of the educator	The role of the educator is multi-faceted and responsive to the needs of the children	Children are given the skills to learn independently
The classroom	The environment is considered a ‘third teacher.’ Learning is influenced by the resources, materials, educators and children within the environment	More structured approach to learning
The curriculum	Reflective of the context and the community where the Early School is situated	Learning is structured by the Montessori curriculum rather than the community
Age grouping	Children benefit from multi-age interactions at key times throughout the day, as well as being grouped by age	Multi-age classrooms

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Hi Georgina,

Thank you for the opportunity to contribute to the recruitment of Centre Directors and Educators to join the expanding Nido family.

With so many open roles in the sector at the moment, I think we should be talking about the differences that really sets Nido apart. From my own experience, they are not always obvious from the outside, but when you get to meet the Nido family you really feel it.

Leaving my previous employer, who I was with for over 10 years, was not an easy decision. I had interviews with a few different companies, before finding my home at Nido.

I remember walking out of that initial interview, literally with tears in my eyes, I knew I had finally found what I had been looking for.

As you mentioned, honesty and integrity are critical and a given, our Services, resources and environments speak for themselves, and candidates merely need to look at our website to understand how engaging and wonderful they are.

We really need to focus more on what a Centre Director and an Educator will experience at Nido;

Authenticity; At Nido they will get honesty with heart
Trust and understanding; At Nido you are treated from day one, as competent and capable
We have the opportunity to inspire Educators and children to reach their full potential and change their worlds for the better, this still delights me everyday
At Nido you can make your mark in the world and are given the respect and autonomy to do what you love and truly make a difference
Collaboration – we are one team, far and wide we inspire and challenge each other
Nido is a family, for me, I have the overwhelming sense of belonging at Nido, my people and my home, this is what drew me to Nido in the first place

I am continually driven by our purpose;

To provide our Educators with the training, environment, motivation, and empowerment to deliver exceeding quality education to children, partnering with families, and giving children a voice and the opportunity to lead wonderful fulfilling lives.

I love that we seek to make quality early education available to everyone, regardless of their economic position. That we focus more on suburban children and advocate for their rights, Nido is truly a movement and not one to join without knowing you will need to put your heart on the line every single day.

Mary Oliver asked “What will you do with your one wild and precious life”, I cannot think of anything more fulfilling than what I get to do every day at Nido.

Kind regards,
Danika x