Quotes from Carlina Rinaldi

Many of the staff have had the privilege of hearing Carlina Rinaldi, pedagogista for the schools of Reggio Emilia, and Professor at the University of Modena-Reggio. As her work continues to challenge and inspire us, we choose one of her speeches to guide us.

On "The Image of the Child"

"We like to say that the child is competent but it is not enough just to declare this. If we really want the child to be competent, we have to change time, space, roles and rules to permit this competent child to exist."

On "The Value of Difference"

"The uniqueness of each individual is strongly related to the value of difference…. There are differences in sex, race, culture and religion, differences because we are individuals, because we are all different. Not only because we are male and female, Americans, Italians, Buddhist, Catholic, but because we are ourselves. But difference in itself is not a value; it can become one if we are able to create in the school a context and a culture of differences.

You have to have the courage to choose values and become responsible for these values. The value of differences is one of the best and most difficult. Differences involve commitment and hard work. In confronting differences, we encounter otherness but also "outsideness." Differences are painful and challenging. It is easier to cancel differences than to welcome differences. We are more attracted by equality, by that which makes us equal. But this is a big risk and, thus, the questions we raise are of vital importance. What do we make of the differences? How do we avoid the risks of homogenization, standardization? Are all differences acceptable? If not, which are not acceptable and why? What is the aim of an educational project that seeks to welcome differences? In order to standardize them so that the children do the same thing at the same time? Is this our idea of being respectful of uniqueness? What concept of equality are we developing in our school and in our life? Is it the aim to make everyone equal, or to give everyone opportunities to develop their own differences through interaction with others? These questions are of great importance on both the pedagogical and the political level.

Western culture, in general, is experiencing a massive migratory phenomenon, the migration of people, races, cultures and religions. This makes the value of differences one of the most difficult, yet one of the most important for our being a school of education. People tend to develop an attitude that certain others are less valued. In order to educate ourselves, we must try to understand the differences. This means approaching each individual with great sensitivity in terms of his or her background and personal story, children in particular. It means listening to the differences, listening to and accepting changes… It means letting go any truth that we consider to be absolute, being open to doubt and giving value to the attitude of the possible. All of this can mean a greater responsibility and inclination for us to change."