Worldwide Reggio Inspiration: Thailand

One of the great pleasures and privileges of our big adventure trip in January was the time that we spent with Jackie Alexander and Giovanni Piazza in Bangkok, Thailand.  We met Jackie for the first time in the mid nineties at an international conference to honor Loris Malaguzzi in Reggio Emilia, Italy.  We met Giovanni when we lived and worked in Reggio Emilia in 1991-92.  Louise was an intern/fellow at La Villetta School where Giovanni was the atelierista.  She worked primarily with Giovanni in the atelier and with Amelia Gambetti who was teaching the “grandi,” the five and six years old children.

Jackie is originally from Toronto and has lived in Bangkok for 33 years.  Her early career took her to Southeast Asia and she never left.  She taught in a school for young children, then became director and set out to shape the school to her own vision.  That first school was such a success that she has now opened three others including one elementary school, The City School.  The group of schools are called Early Learning Center schools or ELC.  Jackie studied the Reggio approach and visited Reggio Emilia in the 90’s and she and Giovanni began to get to know each other through those visits.  Giovanni visited Bangkok at Jackie’s invitation to further the understanding of her teachers in many aspects of the work in Reggio Emilia.  And eventually, their relationship turned toward more than education and they were married in 2005. 

Giovanni is now the atelierista at The City School, the one school of Jackie’s that goes through 5th grade.  Giovanni works with a partner atelierista, Marco Paladino, who focuses mostly on technology.  Giovanni and Marco are close partners with the teachers in helping to design the course of project work as well as the documentation of student work. 

The City School is a campus with many buildings.  Jackie has worked with architects to renovate and to transform existing buildings on the site as well as to save and restore some colonial Thai buildings that were moved to the school grounds.  The grounds are green and welcoming and the outdoor classrooms and play spaces are beautifully conceived.  An aspect of the campus that immediately strikes visitors is the presence of transparency and glass as well as the feeling of authentic, and unique Thai architecture and style.  Another impressive aspect is the presence of all the ateliers in all kinds of places.  There is an atelier dedicated to light and the exploration of light and shadow in complex and layered ways.  There is an outdoor water atelier where children experiment and explore the physics and the beauty of water. There are ateliers for expressive languages and for digital work.  There is a music atelier and an atelier dedicated to the natural world.  Classrooms are open and are easily accessible to the ateliers and the outdoor classrooms.

The children's work in many media and the documentation of their thinking and their theories, their poetry and writing, their wonderings and questions, their designs and ideas for the future of our world are impressive! We see the work of older children flourish as they master skills and abilities in this kind of rich and diverse environment. We could have spent a week their just reading the walls.  

One of the most striking aspects of all is that this is truly and international and diverse school with children, teachers and families from all over the world.  Giovanni told me that he was continually fascinated and curious about the collaboration that he witnesses among children from different cultures who have different perspectives and ways of seeing and solving problems.  One project of the older children was focused on maps and boundaries and space beyond our world.  The students wanted to write messages to the universe and were able to send up a balloon with a camera so that they all could see the earth from an ever expanding perspective as well as deliver their message. 

It was heart warming to find friends so far away from home who we have known for so long working in such inspiring schools.  We wish we could have spent longer with them and with the children.  Jackie and her team have created the kind of schools that you don’t want to leave.  I know that many of us are working to create schools that are worthy of our children's intelligence and creativity.  May we work for schools like this for all children everywhere. 

Back Home Again

Goodness, we have been gone a long time and away from this space of writing blog posts at least twice a month.  We've had such an adventure that we wanted to begin our blog posts for the new year with a mini reflection on our journey away. 

We are back in Vermont, now looking out on a snowy landscape, softly falling flakes, white, black and gray nuthatches and scarlet cardinals at the feeders and winter everywhere.  It feels so very good to be home.  Two months ago, we found ourselves without any of our children or grandchildren for the holidays, (They were with dear in-laws).   So we set out across the world, going west from Boston to San Francisco and then to Maui where we settled into a small cottage for a Christmas with leis instead of greens, and hibiscus instead of poinsettias, the beach instead of skiing and snow, and some dear, long lost friends in the place of family. 

Then, close to the end of the month, we headed to New Zealand. We lost a day and arrived just before New Year.  We marveled at the Southern Cross and the starry southern hemisphere sky as we turned the corner into 2018.  We reveled in the landscape, the merino sheep, the glaciers and rainforests and beaches with wild surf and smooth stones.  We moved around the South Island and learned so much about the land, the geology and the flora and fauna from guided nature trails and guides at lodges.  And it was light from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.  So much light and varied, beautiful land and sea.  We were amazed most of the time.  

In mid January we headed to Thailand where we joined a National Geographic Tour for two weeks.We traveled north to Chang Mai and south to Ko Samui and the rain forest.  Our favorite experiences were small group bike rides through the countryside with local guides.  We also spent two splendid days with Jackie Alexander and Giovanni Piazza in their ELC schools in Bangkok.  We plan to write a blog post dedicated to those days and those schools, coming soon.

Thailand was a world of difference for us.  We had never been to Southeast Asia.  Bangkok is a big, bustling city with so much to see.  Right away we found the Jim Thompson House because I have heard about Jim Thompson most of my life.  He and my father were born in the same year and attended Princeton University together.  Jim Thompson was an architect, a business man, an agent in the OSS, precursor to the CIA who lived in Thailand most of his adult life.  His home, now a museum, is filled with his collection of Asian art.  He is known for single handedly revitalizing the silk industry in Thailand.  My parents visited him several times in this house and my brother remembers celebrating his birthday at Jim Thompson's while he was stationed in Asia.  

We were thrilled to make the connections with both Jim Thompson and Jackie and Giovanni in Bangkok.  These personal connections made our pilgrimage worth every effort. 

We finished our around the world adventure with five days in Paris. We visited a museum every day and were swept away, once again, by the small streets, the Paris rooftop views, the ambiance, the cafe's, and the ever present charm of this city of love. 

So that was our trip!  We saw children everywhere, in museums, in schools, in strollers, on bicycles and thought about their lives in these far away places. We felt like children ourselves in many ways, soaking in the new every day, writing in our journals, sketching and painting our impressions and reflections, learning.  

We are glad to be home and glad to be back in the swing, posting thoughts and being in touch with all of you.  All the very best for the new year and for February, as the light returns.  

Louise and Ashley