Creating TEDx (remembering how to jump)
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] When the organizers of the TEDx West Vancouver conference called to ask if someone from Opal School would like to share at their event,…
Tag: professional development
Maintaining a Strong Image of the Child
One of Opal School’s values is A powerful image of the young child as intelligent, creative, and capable with gifts and abilities that the world needs. Loris Malaguzzi…
Building Nests
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]There were nests, everywhere. Giant nests made of branches; smaller ones built of tinsel and string; tiny ones of clay and sticks. It started when…
What does holding a strong image of the child mean in a complicated world?
At the end of September, Matt Karlsen and I spoke to several groups in the Vancouver area about conditions that support playful inquiry. Over the…
Learning about playing to learn
Play is a strategy for learning for which humans are hardwired. This message seems clear, both in the literature as well as Opal School’s lived…
Remembering Symposium 2015
Today, Opal School staff returned to school. For me, it’s been a very busy summer: I left the country just a few days after Symposium…
Communities of Resistance – Where each member thrives
In a recent episode of This American Life, W. Kamau Bell struggles with how to talk to his young daughters about race and racism. As…
Keeping it Lively
Getting ready for next month’s Symposium, I find myself re-reading Ann Pelo’s The Language of Art. She writes, “we begin to use the word ‘art’…
Reflection: “New Possibilities for Readers”
Vicki Vinton reads with Opal School students at the workshop. In contrast to the structure we’ve followed in previous workshops, this year (2014-15) we decided…
Ripples beyond borders
During a recent conversation about all sorts of other projects, Scott Nine mentioned the success of Nuestra Escuelita preschool in Puerto Rico – and attributed…