ABSTRACT
This chapter explores how educators from Reggio Emilia, Italy, and Reggio Emilia-inspired schools in the United States build relationships of trust and respect that lay the foundation for newcomers to participate and thrive in the school community. The authors examine published accounts from Reggio educators of their efforts to welcome and value the plurality of points of view of immigrant families with young children, who have entered the municipal infant-toddler centers and preschools of Reggio Emilia over the past 20 years. A particularly effective strategy of practice and research reported by Reggio educators is the inclusion of cultural mediators as members of teaching teams. This strategy is used to ensure the rights of new emergent bi- and multilingual children and families to thrive in a context that welcomes and values multiculturalism, multilingualism, interculturalism, and equity. The authors examine research literature from the United States that emphasizes the importance of valuing and integrating knowledge of families’ prior experiences, social contexts, languages, cultural values, and traditions, skills, and resources in everyday learning in schools with children who are emergent bilinguals and multilinguals. The pedagogical implications described by U.S. Reggio-inspired educators who responded to a questionnaire and interviews are presented and analyzed in relation to the principles and practices reported in Reggio Emilia.
