Atelierista

I am the atelierista, or studio teacher for the preschool of Sabot at Stony Point School. It is a job that combines my experience as an artist with my interest in teaching. I help the children make their ideas visible by showing them media and techniques, by asking them questions and setting out provocations that might help them take their ideas further. I help the teachers follow the childrens' theories by assisting with documentation and suggesting media, materials and avenues that might work well in each situation.

Loris Malaguzzi, founder of the Reggio Schools, described the atelier as a laboratory: “a place for researching motivations and theories of children from scribbles on up, a place for exploring variations in tools, techniques and materials with which to work.” In other words, the studio is a place for children to explore media and ideas and a place for teachers to try to understand children’s intentions, thinking and learning. For Malaguzzi, it was very important to respect the “plurality and connections” in all of the expressive media that children might use, an idea that he expressed more fully in his “Hundred Languages of Children.” My goal is to expand both children’s and grown-ups’ understanding of the media (which become languages) that children can use to communicate.