Examining the Reggio Emilia Approach: Keys to Understanding Why it Motivates Students

Abstract

Because of the success of the Reggio Emilia Approach in early childhood education, it could be useful to researchers and practitioners to identify and explicate components of the approach that make it effective in motivating students. In this paper, we examine the Reggio Emilia Approach through the lens of the MUSIC ® Model of Motivation, a model based on key motivation components (i.e., empowerment, usefulness, success, interest, and caring) derived from current research and theory. We explain the connections between the Reggio approach and the MUSIC model using theoretical and practical examples to demonstrate that the success of the Reggio approach is in part due to the manner in which it is consistent with key motivation principles. We believe that educators could assess their own programs to deter-

Is there still a place for teacher-led learning routines in the Australian primary school classroom?

“…Student motivation and academic achievement Tseng and Walsh (2016) observe that students who hold the belief that a learning task is interesting and important, will engage in a higher level of metacognitive activity, resulting in enhanced levels of academic achievement. Similarly, Gardner and Jones (2016) suggest that when teachers provide students with choice, and allow learning to be driven by student interest, motivation for learning is enhanced. Fisher et al's (2015) research supports the relationship between student motivation and achievement, claiming that students who are engaged and attentive toward their learning experience high levels of success.…”

“…There is a belief that student motivation and academic achievement is increased when learning routines allow students to feel a personal and emotional connection to their learning goals and environment (Gardner & Jones, 2016;Jones, 2009). Learning routines inspired by this belief tend to emphasize minimally guided learning routines as they allow students to interact with content they deem engaging and relevant.…”

“…The work of Gardner and Jones (2016) emphasizes the importance of student-centred learning routines, stating that minimally guided instruction allows students to interact with content deemed engaging and relevant, thus enhancing motivation and academic achievement. By contrast, Kirschner, Sweller and Clark's (2006) Cognitive Load Theory rejects the effectiveness of minimally guided learning routines, claiming they ignore the structure of human cognitive architecture.…”

Examining the Reggio Emilia Approach: Keys to Understanding Why it Motivates Students

“…The success component was derived based on research related to competence motivation (Elliot & Dweck, 2005;White, 1959), self-efficacy (Bandura, 1997), and expectancy for success (Eccles et al, 1983;Wigfield & Eccles, 2000). Teachers can foster students' success beliefs in a variety of ways, including making expectations clear, providing opportunities for peers to work together on certain tasks and to scaffold one another, challenging students at an appropriate level (which includes the provision of developmentally appropriate materials and resources), and providing students with feedback regularly.…”

Examining the Internet-Based Free Talk in College English Classes from the Motivation Perspective

“…This component is consistent with the future time perspective theory and the expectancy-value theory. The former theory argues that students will be more motivated if they could see that their present task or coursework are useful for their future goals [17]. The latter theory holds that if students can see the values of a task or the coursework, they will put forth more effort and persistence on the task or the coursework [6].…”