ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at the geographical, historical, social and cultural influences that have shaped the philosophy and pedagogy of the preschools and infant toddler centres of Reggio Emilia. Reggio successfully challenges so many false dichotomies: arts versus science, individual versus community, child versus adult, enjoyment versus study, nuclear family versus extended family. In Reggio everybody has a bike: the men, the mothers, the children the grandparents, but they’re the ones that are really used to it because they’ve been riding bikes for a long time. Reggio Emilia is a small city in the Emilia Romagna region of Northern Italy, approximately 40 miles north-west of Bologna. The municipal preschools of Reggio Emilia came into existence in 1963 but their origins lie in the period immediately following Liberation Day in 1945. Reggio is a modern, dynamic city that combines economic prosperity with social and ecological responsibility.
