“The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.” ~ Eleanor Roosevelt
Marcy, Veronica and Laura spent the end of June in Italy with the wonderful Susan MacDonald (a certified professional coach known for her work on empowering educational leaders who want to enhance their programs) and Angela Ferrario ( a liaison for Reggio study tours) along side 12 other early childhood educator leaders from the United States. We went with dreams of experiencing Reggio Emilia (a world leader in childhood education), hopes of being inspired and came home with so many new lessons and ideas. Covid changed a lot of things, we’ve been reminded to look at “our why” and let the shape “our what”.
Our key take aways:
Do as the Italians do: slowing down, savour the moments, pour love and passion into your experience. We got to experience the wonderful town of Mercatello, where we woke every morning to the sound of church bells and roosters, we joined the locals who gathered in the Piazza ( town square) cafe for a cappuccino and pastries. We found children riding bikes, playing soccer, painting and playing hop scotch. We found women watching the town from their windows , waving and smiling. The town shut down from 12-4:30pm, when it awoke the Piazza was filled with people gathering for food, gelato and drinks. All of our meals were home made from ingredients locally grown. Every meal was an experience; we were always offered appetizers, 1st course, 2nd course, dessert and of course wine, all while enjoying the company of others. Gardens were found at every turn, the streets are all cared for, and people were so friendly. The sense of community was strong and vibrant. We had the amazing opportunities to make pasta with local chefs and make paint from flowers with a local artisans- the message was always the same “pour some love and passion”.
The Piazza or The Third Place: Locations where we exchange ideas, have a good time, and build relationships. We enjoyed the concept of the Piazza in several ways, the centre of the town where we gathered for coffee, for walks and drinks; we had had an outdoor space and our inside meeting space. These spaces all encouraged gathering, community and great conversation. It reminded us about the value of connection, collaboration and learning from one and other.
Designing Growth: What is? What if? What works? What wows? We were challenged to think about our dreams, what is possible and what we felt was unimaginable. We were challenged with hard/reflective questions and inspired by our company/surroundings.
“Mission gives life purpose. Vision gives it shape and direction”
“We don’t learn from experience, we learn from reflecting on the experience” -John Dewey
Appreciative Inquiry: Discovery, Dream, Design, Destiny
Discovery: appreciate the best of what is
Dream: Imagine what could be.
Design: Determine what should be
Destiny: Create what will be.
Having Susan take us through this process by asking intentional, non-guiding questions, we learned the value of asking the “right question”, how being mindful can help people realize their strengths, knowledge and help them acknowledge challenges in a supportive way. Having supportive/open conversations will help the growth culture we are trying to promote.
We are so grateful to have learned from such an inspiring group and to have had this experience. We have slowly been translating our learnings into shifts for Allegro. We are slowly going to making some changes around here- stay tuned!
allegrochildcare.ca 