An internationally acclaimed program that challenges American notions of appropriate early education is the municipal early childhood program in Reggio Emilia, Italy. The town's liberal financial support of child care and citizen membership in school committees indicate strong community support. Parents are involved in school policy discussions,…

The basic premise of this paper is that decisions about children and their early educational experiences are culturally situated and, by definition, will reflect varying interpretations of appropriate educational aims and strategies. Drawing upon three decades of experience in the Italian culture as well as preliminary findings from a…

The municipal early childhood program in Reggio Emilia, Italy, one of the most renowned examples of community-supported child care systems in the Western world, is described. A brief historical overview is followed by discussion of such aspects of the Reggio Emilia project as the high level of exchange between families and schools, the…