Content uploaded by Ramashego Shila Mphahlele
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by Ramashego Shila Mphahlele on Oct 14, 2019
Content may be subject to copyright.
Content uploaded by Ramashego Shila Mphahlele
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by Ramashego Shila Mphahlele on Oct 14, 2019
Content may be subject to copyright.
hp://www.sajce.co.za Open Access
South African Journal of Childhood Educaon
ISSN: (Online) 2223-7682, (Print) 2223-7674
Page 1 of 10 Original Research
Read online:
Scan this QR
code with your
smart phone or
mobile device
to read online.
Author:
Ramashego S.S. Mphahlele1
Aliaon:
1Department of Early
Childhood Educaon,
University of South Africa,
Pretoria, South Africa
Corresponding author:
Ramashego Mphahlele,
emphahrs@unisa.ac.za
Dates:
Received: 25 Mar. 2019
Accepted: 23 July 2019
Published: 14 Oct. 2019
How to cite this arcle:
Mphahlele, R.S.S., 2019,
‘Exploring the role of
Malaguzzi’s “Hundred
Languages of Children” in
early childhood educaon’,
South African Journal of
Childhood Educaon 9(1),
a757. hps://doi.org/
10.4102/sajce.v9i1.757
Copyright:
© 2019. The Authors.
Licensee: AOSIS. This work
is licensed under the
Creave Commons
Aribuon License. Introducon
Language is an important component of any education system, because it plays a key role in the
implementation of teaching and learning activities. This statement is supported by the study
conducted by Pinnock and Vijayakumar (2009) which explored the role played by school language
in educational success or failure. There is some evidence to indicate that language has been the
subject of many definitive studies in early childhood education (ECE) such as Conti-Ramsden and
Durkin (2012) and Hoff (2009), who have shown that early literacy is closely linked to language
development in preschool. Law (2015) also confirms the importance of language in ECE by
pointing out that it affects a child’s experiences both at home and at school. He further theorises
that language introduces a child to the social world and to the formation of relationships, helping
them to develop the capacity to interact with others and, of course, to learn.
The study reported in this article aims to explore and describe the role of Malaguzzi’s HLC1 as a
pedagogical approach which enables children to interact and communicate with others and
within their environment. To achieve this aim, the following objectives were set to explore the use
of Malaguzzi’s Hundred Languages of Children (HLC) to support curriculum implementation; to
identify successes and challenges in the use of Malaguzzi’s approach to support learning; and to
reflect on the importance of Malaguzzi’s approach in curriculum implementation.
The HLC, as a concept, was initiated by Malaguzzi as part of Reggio Emilia’s pedagogical approach.
According to Slipp (2017), the Reggio Emilia pedagogical approach puts the natural development
1.It should be noted that the word ‘hundred’ should not be taken literally because Malaguzzi, in a poem explaining the idea, actually states
that there a ‘hundred, hundred, hundred more’ (Malaguzzi 2012) to show that the ways in which children communicate are endless.
Background: In the history of early childhood education (ECE), language is viewed as key in
teaching and learning. Children in the ECE are mostly confined to verbal communication
which, to a certain extent, restricts their imagination and inventive ability. Loris Malaguzzi, the
founder of the Reggio Emilia educational philosophy, initiated the Hundred Languages of
Children (HLC) as a pedagogical approach to enable children to interact and communicate.
Aim: This study aims to explore the role of HLC through the experiences and views of the four
ECE practitioners in the Gauteng province. Drawing on Gardner’s theory of multiple
intelligences, the author argues that ECE children possess different kinds of minds, and
therefore they learn in different ways.
Setting: Two Early Childhood centres in the Gauteng Province of South Africa were selected
for this study because they had adopted Malaguzzi’s HLC approach to constructing concepts
to help children structure knowledge and organise learning.
Methods: The author used one-on-one interviews to get ECE practitioners’ experiences on
using Malaguzzi’s HLC. To corroborate the interviews’ data, the author conducted classroom
observations and document analysis.
Results: The participants viewed Malaguzzi’s HLC as an enabler to meet the requirement of
the two sets of curricula from the Department of Social Development (the National Curriculum
Framework for children from 0 to 4 years) and from the Department of Basic Education (the
Curriculum Assessment and Policy Statement for 5-year-old children).
Conclusion: The findings show a paradigm shift, as children become active constructors of
their own knowledge.
Keywords: documentation; early childhood education; Hundred Languages of Children;
multiple intelligences; Reggio Emilia Pedagogical Approach.
Exploring the role of Malaguzzi’s ‘Hundred Languages
of Children’ in early childhood educaon
Read online:
Scan this QR
code with your
smart phone or
mobile device
to read online.
Open Rubric
Page 2 of 10 Original Research
hp://www.sajce.co.za Open Access
of children as well as the close relationships that they share
with their environment at the centre of its philosophy. More
importantly, Malaguzzi’s HLC approach is viewed as a tool
that encourages children to explore their environment and
express themselves through multiple paths and all their
languages including the expressive, communicative,
symbolic, cognitive, ethical, metaphorical, logical, imaginative
and relational (Edwards, Gandini & Forman 2012). For
Edwards et al. (2012), Malaguzzi’s HLC helps children to
recognise the enrichment that comes from the negotiation of
ideas and actions, to see the value of sharing and exchanging
points of view and the growth in organisational abilities,
knowledge and linguistic and communicative skills.
With that in mind, it can be concluded that Malaguzzi’s HLC
is a key principle of the Reggio Emilia approach. This article
focuses on Malaguzzi’s HLC approach. This is because the
latter approach is viewed as a way in which children are able
to express their ideas, thoughts, feelings, questions and
emotions. These could be performed through drawing,
painting, making, singing, dancing, acting and becoming; by
using their bodies to touch, smell, taste, listen to, move,
stroke, feel or envelop; by not being limited to words, and by
using paintbrushes, pencils, chalk, paint, clay, mud, stones,
mirrors, spades and strings (Smidt 2013).
A large and growing body of literature has investigated
Malaguzzi’s HLC approach, with some studies such as
Thornton and Brunton (2015) and Gandini (2004) describing
HLC as a theory linking language with developing thinking
because it is believed that language determines thought.
Supporting this statement, Olsson (2009) verifies that, when
using different languages, our thoughts are put into a state of
continual movement and evolvement. Furthermore, research
by Millikan (2003) has shown that Malaguzzi’s HLC approach
is dependent on three aspects: (1) resources and experiences,
(2) opportunities to express different ways of thinking and
(3) adults taking children seriously and listening to them
respectfully. Similarly, a study by Hall (2013) confirms that
Malaguzzi’s HLC approach can be implemented by ECE
practitioners who recognise the importance of children’s
ability to communicate and connect with others, and to
conceptualise and impart their ideas, skills and understanding
of the world in which they live, in many different ways.
Malaguzzi (1994) argues that children are mostly confined to
non-verbal communication which, to a certain extent, restricts
their competence, resourcefulness, curiosity, imagination and
inventive ability. He encourages children to portray their
understanding through different symbolic languages that
require new interpretations from adults.
Choo (2015) presented inspiring stories of children in Eton
House International Education Group preschools in
Singapore, China or Korea, Japan, Indonesia and India. What
stood out from the children’s experiences was that when they
are painting, sculpting and writing, they express their
thinking and understanding of the world around them. For
Choo, using Malaguzzi’s HLC promotes the myriad ways in
which children interpret and represent their ideas,
circumstances and the problems they face growing up.
Similarly, Gates of Discovery (2013) also documented the
experiences of 2- and 3-year-old children from the Rose and
George Teller preschool using Malaguzzi’s HLC. From their
experiences, they shared their beliefs as follows:
• Children are extremely capable and that they have deep,
complex thoughts and ideas.
• Children have the right and the ability to express their
thinking, theories, ideas, learning and emotions in many
ways.
Theorecal foundaon
The theoretical base through which this study was
conceived is located in Howard Gardner’s theory of
multiple intelligences which stresses the existence and the
importance of mental powers (Gardner 1988). Gardner
proposed that there are eight intelligences, namely visual-
spatial, linguistic-verbal, logical-mathematical, bodily-
kinaesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal and naturalistic,
and has suggested the possible addition of a ninth
intelligence known as ‘existentialist intelligence’. In this
theory, Gardner argues that one form of intelligence is not
better than another; they are equally valuable and viable.
With that in mind, the link between his theoretical
framework and this study is the fact that the theory of
multiple intelligences as denoted by Austin (2017)
recognises that many talents (if not intelligences) are
neglected in teaching and learning situations. More than
two decades ago, Diamond (1988) made a similar discovery
and noted that caregivers and practitioners need to redirect
their attention to three specific areas to enrich the children’s
intelligence: firstly, to the environmental conditions and
messages they provide children; secondly, to the kind of
support and relationships they develop between
themselves and children; and thirdly, to the need to match
what they know about the ways in which children are
intelligent and learn with teaching strategies designed to
maximise the full development of each individual child.
The HLC according to Edwards (1998) fosters children’s
intellectual development through a systematic focus on
symbolic representation because children are encouraged to
explore their environment and express themselves through
all available expressive, communicative and cognitive
languages. Drawing from Gardner’s argument that the
multiple intelligences are equally valuable and viable, it is
safe to conclude that Malaguzzi’s HLC also recognises these
intelligences in any form of expression that children use to
communicate. In addition, Kumbar (2016) highlights that
Malaguzzi’s HLC emphasises that children in the ECE phase
possess different kinds of minds, and therefore, they learn,
remember, perform and understand in different ways. The
application of Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences in
this study helped with the research design and the selection
of the data collection tools because the interview questions
and observed variables focused mainly on the three
fundamental components of Gardner’s theory of multiple
intelligences as outlined by Smith (2008), namely:
Page 3 of 10 Original Research
hp://www.sajce.co.za Open Access
• provision of opportunities to engage in experiences across
a range of intelligence domains
• knowing strengths and interests of the children
• children’s role in defining the curriculum.
Research design
In light of the theoretical framework explained above,
constructivism is considered to be the appropriate paradigm
for this study, because it is a concept that attempts to
understand the world as others experience it. In this study,
ECE practitioners interpreted the many languages that
children used to understand what they were communicating
to them. Drawing from Pitsoe’s (2008) views on the
foundation of constructivism, this article argues that
constructivism accentuates discovery, experimentation and
open-ended problems that have been successfully applied in
teaching and learning. The social component of constructivism
as described by Von Glasersfeld (1989) emphasises the child’s
construction of schemata in the learning process which takes
place in the experiential environment to a much greater
extent than other recurrent items of experience, such as
playing which makes interaction unavoidable.
This study employed a phenomenological design to explore the
experiences of ECE practitioners who used Malaguzzi’s HLC
approach in their teaching and learning activities. A
phenomenological design was selected because, according to
Smith (2018), it studies the structure of various types of
experience ranging from perception, thought, memory,
imagination, emotion, desire and volition to bodily awareness,
embodied action and social activity, including linguistic activity.
The relevance of phenomenological design in this study is
found in the main aim which is to explore the role of HLC
through the experiences and views of the ECE practitioners.
Research quesons
The following research questions were formulated to
determine the relevant methods of data collection for this
study:
• How do ECE practitioners use Malaguzzi’s HLC to
support children’s learning?
• What are the experiences of ECE practitioners in using
Malaguzzi’s HLC to support children’s learning?
Study site and sample
The sample for this study was drawn from ECE centres that
accommodate children from birth to 5 years, using the Reggio
Emilia pedagogical approach. Some of the children enrolled
in these centres come from informal settlements where there
is an unemployment rate of about 40% and households with
an average income of R4000.00 per month. Parents are mostly
self-employed as hawkers and street vendors with a few
employed by nearby companies.
The participants (ECE practitioners) were purposively
sampled from the selected centres, which were chosen
because they had advised the Gauteng Department of
Education (GDE) and Gauteng Department of Social
Development that they employed the Reggio Emilia
pedagogical approach, with the emphasis on Malaguzzi’s
HLC approach. Data needed to be collected from two ECE
practitioners per centre to conduct one-on-one unstructured
interviews. The letters requesting permission to conduct the
research in the centres were sent to the principals, with a
request to send the names of practitioners who were willing
to participate in the study. From centre A, eight names were
forwarded to me, and from centre B, seven names were
forwarded. The names of the practitioners from centre A
were cut out from a list and put in a container and the author
randomly selected two names from the list. The process was
repeated for centre B. The classrooms of the four ECE
practitioners selected for the interviews were automatically
selected for observations as well.
Data collecon methods
Data were collected qualitatively through one-on-one
unstructured interviews which were audio-recorded to
explore the experiences of ECE practitioners in using
Malaguzzi’s HLC to support children’s learning. As the
interviews were used to collect the ECE practitioners’ views
and perceptions, the author observed a need to corroborate
this data with reflections from classroom observations and
data from document analysis. The observation schedule was
designed in line with Gardner’s theory as a theoretical
framework to explore how Malaguzzi’s HLC was used to
support children’s learning. The same ECE practitioners who
were interviewed and observed were requested to furnish
their observation sheets and progress reports for analysis.
Data analysis
As this study employed a phenomenological research design,
it was safe to use phenomenological analysis to unpack the
interview responses, reflections and experiences of the ECE
practitioners. Firstly, the researcher performed a
phenomenological reduction by refraining from making
suppositions or a priori assumptions, as recommended by
Moustakas (1994). A number of steps were followed to
analyse the data: the data were prepared for analysis by
transcribing the audio-data and using labels on the
transcripts. The data were uploaded onto Atlas-Ti. The Atlas-
Ti to explore the data by creating memos and a qualitative
codebook were used. Codes were created and grouped into
family codes (themes or categories). Because the data were
not extensive, there was no need to break the themes down
into sub-themes.
Ethical consideraons
The author requested ethical clearance from the Gauteng
Department of Education because the data for the article
were collected before she worked for the University of South
Africa (Ethical Clearance number: 8/4/4/1/2).
Page 4 of 10 Original Research
hp://www.sajce.co.za Open Access
To adhere to ethical requirements, ethical clearance was
obtained beforehand from the Education Research and
Knowledge Management (ER& KM) a sub-directorate of the
GDE. Before the interviews and observations too place,
participants were given information sheets with informed
consent forms attached, and they were requested to complete
the informed consent forms after reading the information
sheet. For the classroom observations including the
children’s’ progress reports and observation sheets,
the author requested the ECE principals to give parents the
information sheets as well as informed parental consent
forms. The parents were also requested to give consent for
the taking of pictures and viewing of the documentations
and previously taken videos. The information sheet provided
the background to the study, aims and objectives and the
limitations. Furthermore, the author used member checking
for trustworthiness, and triangulation to control bias and
establish valid propositions. Triangulation was possible
because of the fact that three qualitative data collection
strategies were employed. To protect the anonymity of the
participants, pseudonyms were provided as follows:
• Practitioner 1 from ECE centre A = P1CA28
• Practitioner 2 from ECE centre A = P2CA45
• Practitioner 3 from ECE centre B = P3CB36
• Practitioner 4 from ECE centre B = P4CB34
Results
In this section, it explains the ECE practitioners’ self-reported
views and perceptions of using HLC to support the children’s
learning, my reflection of what was observed in the classrooms
and the data from the documents that were analysed.
The early childhood educaon praconers’
views and percepons on the use of Malaguzzi’s
Hundred Languages of Children
From the responses of the four ECE practitioners on the
question of the use of Malaguzzi’s HLC, it could be
established that they all applied it in the children’s learning
activities. Some of their reasons for using Malaguzzi’s HLC
related to the first fundamental component of Gardner’s
theory of multiple intelligences (i.e. provision of opportunities
to engage in experiences across a range of intelligence
domains) in that they wanted to use the most effective and
efficient methods in their teaching to engage the children and
most importantly to give them freedom to explore. The ECE
practitioners attested that they saw the children as individuals
and as a result, they provided an enabling environment for
them to be able to communicate their unique abilities in
different ways. During the classroom observations, the
author noticed that there was a variety of natural resources in
the classrooms such as stones, shells, wooden blocks, plants
and flowers, and they mentioned that the integration of
Malaguzzi’s HLC in their teaching helped to make their
curriculum implementation hands-on.
When interviewing ECE practitioners in the ECE centre A,
one of them brought up the term provocation, meaning that
she designed the learning environment in such a way that
learners were provoked to think, explore, ask questions and
become creative. When the observations were conducted in
her classroom, the practitioner showed what she called ‘a
provocation table’. The table was set up with wild and
domestic animals which were made from wood. At one
corner of the table, there was a box designed to represent a
zoo and another corner had a box that represented a
homestead. Some time was spent watching the children
playing with the animals, talking to each other and also
asking the ECE practitioner if they could put some of the
animals in the zoo or the homestead boxes. The ECE
practitioner responded with questions such as ‘why do you
want to put a sheep in the zoo box?’ As the activity for that
day was about animals, in another corner of the classroom,
the ECE practitioner put the animals on the provocation table
and let the children use clay to make animals of their choice
(illustrated in Figure 1).
When looking into their observation sheets and progress
reports, there was limited information recorded and the
practitioners clarified that they mostly used documentation
as part of their records. With documentation, they recorded
children’s activities mostly by taking pictures and videos
and translated them as children’s experiences, memories,
thoughts and ideas. They showed their documentation
which included samples of the children’s work, pictures of
children doing different activities, ECE practitioners’
comments and transcriptions of the children’s discussions
and individual verbal responses. The practitioners wrote
quite extensive explanations about the intentions and
outcomes of the activities.
When answering the question which probed the relationship
between Malaguzzi’s HLC with curriculum implementation,
the ECE practitioners compared it with music and dance.
They opined that Malaguzzi’s HLC became more visible
when children were playing. They further indicated that, in
the ECE, play is a fundamental requirement for children’s
development. In the classrooms, there were different
resources in different corners and the ECE practitioners
clarified that their role was to create a conducive
environment for play because if the natural play was not
supported by the environment to stimulate social skills,
imagination and creativity, knowing the children’s ability
and their interests, the teacher needed to prepare the
environment and the children then played in that
environment. The ECE practitioners in centre B showed
some of the recorded videos of learners learning through
play inside and outside the classrooms. The videos were
used for documentation of the activities.
Reecon on the successes and challenges in
using Malaguzzi’s Hundred Languages of
Children to support children’s learning
The four classrooms that were observed displayed only
learners’ work and the documentation found on the classroom
walls. What was interesting in each centre’s two classrooms
Page 5 of 10 Original Research
hp://www.sajce.co.za Open Access
was that there were similar activities displayed on the walls,
and when asked why the activities were similar, they clarified
that they planned activities collaboratively every week. The
ECE practitioners revealed that they did not use any formal
pre-specified lessons but they planned activities that were
aligned with the National Curriculum Framework (NCF) (for
children from birth to 4 years) and the Curriculum Assessment
Policy Statement (CAPS) (for 5-year-old children) which can
contribute to children’s development. They also explained
that prior planning allowed them to reflect on the work in
progress and share successes and challenges so that they
could come up with the suggestions that might work better
going forward. From the progress reports, the author noticed
that children’s progress was recorded after every 2 weeks.
The practitioners explained that using Malaguzzi’s HLC
requires the involvement of parents so that the learning
spaces should be familiar to the child. As a result, the ECE
practitioners updated the progress reports after every
2 weeks to allow the parents to have input into their children’s
work and to contribute to the documentation process.
During the interviews, the ECE practitioners’ mentioned that
they were experiencing a challenge with limited resources to
capture the HLC and to compile documentation. When
conducting the classroom observations, the author was able to
corroborate their responses with what was observed because
of witnessing the ECE practitioners using their cell phones to
capture children’s pictures and videos during learning
activities because the centres did not have cameras or video
cameras. There was only one printer and one photocopying
machine at each centre which were used mainly for
administrative work. The ECE practitioners highlighted that
for them to do documentation with ease, they required a
printer, camera and a video camera for every classroom and
Atelierista. The author requested that the ECE practitioners
should explain what an Atelierista is a teacher with which an
FIGURE 1 : Pictures taken in the classrooms during observaons: (a) documentaon early childhood educaon praconers’ translaons from centre A, (b) provocaon
table set up with animals from centre A, (c) documentaon without translaons from centre B and (d) display on the wall of the creave corner of centre B.
ab
cd
Page 6 of 10 Original Research
hp://www.sajce.co.za Open Access
art background or qualification who conducts research and
translates the children’s work expressed by means of the
‘hundred languages’. In concluding this section, Figure 1
shows four pictures that illustrate documentation, a
provocation table and the learners’ work displayed on the wall
of the creative corner.
It can be seen from Figure 1a that there are some A4 sheets
with notes underneath the children’s work. The notes on the
A4 pages are the teachers’ translations of the children’s
expressions which were made during documentation. For
record purposes, the children’s work is scanned on the
photocopying machine and the ECE practitioners’ notes are
typed. The children’s work in Figure 1c and d was yet to be
translated when the picture was taken.
Discussion of the main ndings
This study set out to explore, describe and explain HLC as a
pedagogical approach which enables children to interact and
communicate with others and with their environment. The
key findings of this study were summarised according to the
themes that emerged during the data analysis. These themes
were subsequently linked with the objectives to achieve the
aim as indicated in the introduction. The links between the
themes and study objectives are summarised in Table 1.
As is clear from Table 1, four themes emerged from the data
analysis, and these themes were linked with the three set
objectives. Throughout the discussion of the findings, the
pseudonyms are used to ensure the anonymity of the
participants as indicated in the previous section.
Theme 1: The use of Malaguzzi’s Hundred
Languages of Children to support learning
The findings from the one-on-one unstructured interviews,
regarding the pedagogical approach informing the
participants’ curriculum implementation, allowed for
several links to the existing literature reviewed as part of
the study on which this article is based. The reasons
provided by Hall (2013) in the introduction to this study
link with the following participants’ responses: ‘I use
Malaguzzi’s Hundred Languages because I believe that [by]
allowing them [the children] to express themselves
whichever way they can I allow them to construct
knowledge’ (P1CA28) and ‘I use Malaguzzi’s Hundred
Languages to provide an environment where children can
take the lead’ (P4CB34). These quotes are reflected in the
work of Gandini, Edwards and Forman (2014) in alluding to
the role of the teacher when supporting learning through
Malaguzzi’s HLC, in that the teacher should support the
children to present their ideas clearly without overriding
those of their peers. Most importantly, the teacher should
help the children not to be afraid of making mistakes, and to
assure them that their ideas are legitimate.
The participants’ responses, and the contribution from the
literature, helped the researcher to engage with the purpose
of Malaguzzi’s approach in respect of curriculum
implementation. These responses affirmed that the
practitioners in the two ECE centres use Malaguzzi’s HLC
during teaching and learning activities. When doing
observations in the classrooms, the purpose of using
Malaguzzi’s HLC became clear, because the researcher
observed how children’s verbal and non-verbal expressions
were used to design teaching and learning activities. The
author witnessed how the ECE practitioners designed the
environment to enable the children to use their hundred
languages. In the P2CA45’s classroom, when observing
learning activities on the provocation table, there were lots
of actions performed by different learners; for example, one
would put a sheep in the zoo box and another one would
just remove it without saying a word and look at the ECE
practitioner for approval or disapproval of his action.
Most of the teaching resources in the classrooms were natural
resources such as shells, rocks, wooden blocks, clay, plants
and flowers and they were used to engage the children’s
senses of touch and sight, smell and sound. Connecting this
finding with the literature, it was evident from Goodwin
College (2018) that in the classrooms where Malaguzzi’s HLC
was employed, children explored their hundred languages
with movement, by creating animals with clay, in talking
with one another and with adults, by smelling new scents
and tasting new flavours, and listening to beautiful and
surprising sounds. Reflecting on the relevance of Gardner’s
theory of multiple intelligences, two of the intelligences are
catered for with the use of the natural resources mentioned
above, that is, body kinaesthetic (movement and creating
animals) and verbal linguistic (listening to sounds).
Against this background, this article argues that immersing
the children in an environment that caters to each of these
experiences can be a successful avenue to help grow a self-
secure, empathetic, creative and mature child who is ready to
tackle each new year of school with enthusiasm. Coming to
the theoretical foundation of this study, in relation to the
environment and Gardner’s theory, Shpendi, Ahmetoğlu and
Aksin Yavus (2018) argue that children’s perceptions of the
environment leave permanent impressions in their minds,
influence their development and the development of their
minds. Malaguzzi’s HLC also represents the infinite amount
of potential each child naturally has and each child’s
individual views and perceptions of their community.
The most interesting finding was to note the level of
parental involvement, which was evident in the documents
TABLE 1: The link between the emerging themes and the objecves.
Emerging themes Objecves
The use of Malaguzzi’s HLC to support
learning
To explore the use of Malaguzzi’s HLC
to support curriculum implementaon
Successes experienced in using
Malaguzzi’s approach to support learning
To idenfy successes and challenges in
the use of Malaguzzi’s approach to
support learning
Challenges experienced in using
Malaguzzi’s approach to support learning
Importance of Malaguzzi’s approach in
curriculum implementaon
To reect on the importance of
Malaguzzi’s approach in curriculum
implementaon
HLC, Hundred Languages of Children.
Page 7 of 10 Original Research
hp://www.sajce.co.za Open Access
(progress reports), which reported that parents regularly
participated in working with the ECE practitioners to provide
more intensive interpretations of the children’s expressions.
Theme 2: Successes experienced in using
Malaguzzi’s approach to support learning
When the participants were asked about the success of using
Malaguzzi’s approach to support learning, three of them
wanted to give some background of their experiences before
employing Malaguzzi’s HLC:
‘When I started working here eight years ago, our centre was not
using [the] Reggio Emilia pedagogical approach. Children used
to be suppressed, forced to sit still and wait for the teacher’s
instructions. Mostly children were allowed to talk when asked to
do so, to avoid the noise in the classrooms. I can assure [you] that
employing Malaguzzi’s Hundred Languages approach opened
my eyes and the children I teach are so free to express themselves.
They ask questions, [and] display symbols for me to interpret.’
(P2CA45)
Other participants emphasised the successes of Malaguzzi’s
HLC by pointing out that children learn a great deal in
exchanges with their peers, especially when interacting in
small groups. They reiterated that the approach offers
possibilities for paying attention, listening to one another,
developing curiosity and interest, asking questions and
responding. P3CB36 added that ‘learners get opportunities
for negotiation and ongoing dynamic communication’.
The most striking result to emerge from the data, as
mentioned in Theme 1, was the successful partnership
formed between parents and ECE practitioners. P4CB
indicated that parents helped by teaching both learners and
ECE practitioners the indigenous games. Apart from helping
with indigenous games, parents took part in the
documentation process as presented in the ‘Results’ section.
They also interpreted some of the children’s actions and
expressions for teachers to understand. During the document
analysis, the author verified some of the parents’ translations
of the documentation and the parents’ comments on the
children’s progress reports. The ECE practitioners in centre A
mentioned that they called parents at the end of each term
and conducted what they called a ‘learning festival’. They
explained that during the learning festival, parents visited
their children’s classrooms where the work for the whole
term was displayed on the walls and some was hung from
the ceiling (see Figure 1). Among the documents they
submitted for analysis, there were also attendance registers
of parents who came to the learning festivals.
It was discovered through the interviews that centres A and
B differed in terms of parental involvement. In centre B, the
ECE practitioners had established what they called parents’
participation days where they allowed parents to visit the
centre from 09:00 to 12:00. ‘… now we have our parent’s
participation days, where they come into the centre, we set
up the environment, and they come and play with their
children’ (P3CB36). The author linked this statement with
P4CB’s statement when she said parents help with indigenous
games. From these two statements, it was concluded that the
parents use much of the time given for parents’ participation
days to teach the indigenous games. The relevance of parental
involvement in the HLC and Gardner’s theory of multiple
intelligences is expanded by Wilson (2018) in stating that a
collaborative approach plays a role in making sure that
dimensions of intelligences are combined to complement
each other as the child develops a range of skills.
It has been theorised by researchers such as Kennedy and
Barblett (2010) and Zosh et al. (2017) that using play as a tool
to teach in the early childhood classroom brings a holistic
approach to the content and helps with the holistic child
development. During the observations, it was evident that
children learn through play (mostly using indigenous games
such as diketo, kgati and morabaraba), building puzzles,
painting and drawing. The use of play in implementing the
HLC relates well with Gardner’s theory because according to
Gardner (2011), human intelligence is multidimensional, as
opposed to the one-dimensional understanding of
intelligence represented by the intelligence quotient. Gardner
further recognised eight different dimensions associated
with this theory and speculated that everyone possesses
every intelligence but to different degrees. Drawing from
Freire et al. (2016), it is evident that play adapted to children’s
intelligences is likely to improve their learning experience,
potentially resulting in an increase of attention and
motivation which may ultimately result in increased learning
outcomes.
Theme 3: Challenges experienced in using
Malaguzzi’s approach to support learning
The ECE practitioners highlighted that their main challenge
was to strike a balance between the construction of learning
through inquiry and expressive language, and CAPS
(specifically for their 5-year-old children), which demands
that children should be able to demonstrate that they are
learning according to specific outcomes or defined standards.
From the observations and the documents analysed, it
appeared that assessment was not a priority in the two
selected centres because they focused mainly on what the
children could learn. Observing major documentation in all
four classrooms was done, as every learner’s verbal and
non-verbal expressions needed to be interpreted and
understood. Gandini (2011a) argues that documentation is
very important, because it helps both ECE practitioners and
children to reflect on their prior experience; to listen to each
other’s ideas, theories, insights and understandings; and to
make decisions – together – about future learning paths.
The documentation process is posing a challenge to the two
ECE centres in Gauteng because owing to financial constraints
they are unable to employ or train their members to become
Atelieristas. An Atelierista as explained in the results sections
is a trained teacher (who has a knowledge of art) who
professionally conducts documentation (Reggio Children
2018). The ECE practitioners (P1CA28 and P2CA45) explained
Page 8 of 10 Original Research
hp://www.sajce.co.za Open Access
that the Ateliers’ duties involve collection of children’s work,
work sheet and photographs that represent the hundred
languages that children use to express their creativity and
what they know about themselves and the world around
them. Their explanation is in line with the definition of
Norton-Taylor and Lightfoot (2017). After collection and
exploration, the interpretations of others including the parents
are sought to make sense of the HLC. P1CA28 expressed a
concern with regard to the involvement of practitioners in the
documentation process: ‘... it takes most of the contact time
with the learners and at times practitioners have to put
in extra time after work or during weekends to do
documentation’.
In Reggio Emilia preschools, the Ateliers, according to Vecchi
(1998), mostly work in studios and are equipped with a
variety of tools such as tables, easels, computers, printers,
cameras, microscopes, a tape recorder, slide projector,
typewriter, video camera, computer and photocopier machine
to enable them to read, reflect, describe, transcribe and
represent the children’s work. During the observations in the
selected ECE centres, it was evident that there was a lot of
improvisation because of a lack of these resources. The
practitioners used their cell phone cameras and videos and
there was only one computer, one photocopying machine and
one printer in each of the administrative offices as presented
in the results. The administrative assistants helped with the
printing and uploading of the pictures onto the computer.
Vecchi (1998) stressed the role of the Ateliers as to assist the
adults (mostly parents and practitioners) in understanding
processes about how children learn. She further substantiated
that Ateliers helped ECE practitioners to understand how
children invent autonomous vehicles of expressive freedom,
cognitive freedom, symbolic freedom and paths to
communication. With this in mind, it can be argued that
every ECE centre requires the services of an Atelier in order
to be able to construct theories and hypotheses that are not
illogical and artificially imposed on the children.
Theme 4: The importance of Malaguzzi’s
Hundred Languages of Children approach in
curriculum implementaon
The contribution from the literature reviewed stresses the
importance of Malaguzzi’s approach. Gandini (2011a)
reported on children who were requested to measure a table:
they ignored the tape measure available to them and tried
instead to use their bodies and various objects, before settling
for a while on a shoe. Gandini (2011b) points out that if the
teacher had suggested right away that the children use the
tape measure, they would have missed out on everything
they learned when doing group research. Linking this
contribution with what the participants said, and what the
researcher observed in the classroom, it was evident that play
and learning cannot be separated. P2CA45 said that ‘when
children arrive at school in the morning, they play with their
friends using materials or games or toys’. Teaching in the
ECE advocates the use of play to mediate learning, and
Malaguzzi’s approach insists that learning and play are the
basis of life for all children (Gandini 2011a).
When conducting classroom observations, the author
witnessed that most of the activities they engaged in involved
play. Some played with puzzles, soil on a table with a light
underneath, toys, sand and stones. Play in the ECE is
described as a scaffold for development, a vehicle for
increasing neural structures and a means by which all
children practice skills they will need in later life (Imenda
2012). With a similar view, Şule (2017) posits that play in ECE
is crucial to enable the acquisition of knowledge, skills and
habits that children need for their future education. Referring
to the Declaration of the Rights of the Child, Şule (2017)
further described play as a fundamental right and advised
that children should be able to engage in play and recreational
activities appropriate to their age.
P3CB illustrated the importance of Malaguzzi’s HLC in
relation to the South African National Curriculum
Framework: for children from birth to 4 (Department of Basic
Education [DBE] 2015). She narrated a scenario which
displayed the link of Early Learning and Development Areas
(ELDAs) and Malaguzzi’s HLC through a child’s drawing of
a tree during the outdoor free play:
[…. T]he interpretation of the drawing confirmed the link with
the third the aim (children identify, search for and create
solutions to challenges through visual art activities) within the
ELDA Five (Creativity). Secondly the link with the first aim,
(Children show awareness of and are responsive to number and
counting) within ELDA Four (exploring Mathematics) was
apparent because the child could count the fruits of the tree.
Lastly the link with the second aim, (Children identify, search for
and create solutions to challenges through play and make
believe) within ELDA Five (Creativity) was also evident because
the child used stones to display the fruits of the tree. (P3CB36)
From the participants’ scenario, it could be concluded that
through Malaguzzi’s HLC, the ECE practitioners are able to
meet the requirements of the NCF.
Implicaons and recommendaons
It was evident from the empirical findings that when ECE
practitioners employ Malaguzzi’s HLC approach, they begin
to view children as strong, competent, resourceful and able to
make meaning of the world around them. Based on the
discussions of themes 2 and 4, it can be concluded that
Malaguzzi’s HLC approach can add value to the curriculum
implementation of early childhood centres in Gauteng. As
the curriculum implementation and support in the early
childhood centres in the Gauteng province is the responsibility
of the GDE, the recommendation to the GDE is to include
Malaguzzi’s HLC approach as one of the principles to
support curriculum implementation.
Conclusion
This study set out to explore the role of HLC through the
experiences and views of ECE practitioners and it has been a
Page 9 of 10 Original Research
hp://www.sajce.co.za Open Access
learning experience that highlighted the importance of
acknowledging and accommodating the multiple
intelligences of children when supporting curriculum
implementation. From the findings, it was evident that the
ECE practitioners in the two ECE centres use Malaguzzi’s
HLC for their daily learning activities in which they
responded to the first fundamental component of Gardner’s
theory of multiple intelligences. The experiences of the ECE
practitioners reveal both successes and challenges although
the successes seemed to outweigh the challenges. Above all,
parental involvement brought a shift in mindset between
parents and ECE practitioners, and evidently indicates that
young children are increasingly becoming active constructors
of their own knowledge. Malaguzzi’s approach contributes
towards parents and ECE practitioners being able to
understand the holistic development of the child and the fact
that children are not empty vessels who are waiting to be
filled with information. The collaboration between the
parents and the ECE centres strengthened the ability of the
parents and the ECE practitioners to know the strengths and
interests of the children, which is the second component of
Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences. Apart from the
contribution towards parents and ECE practitioners, the
findings endorsed the last fundamental component of
Gardner’s theory which is children’s roles in defining the
curriculum. Lastly, this article argues that the role of
Malaguzzi’s HLC in the ECE is to provide opportunities for
children to engage in experiences across a range of multiple
intelligences and to define the curriculum.
Acknowledgements
The author would like to thank the four Early Childhood
Centres in the Ekurhuleni District of the Gauteng Province for
their participation in this study. Most importantly, the author
acknowledges the principals and Gauteng Department of
Education’s Education Research and Knowledge Management
for allowing her to conduct interviews and to observe their
practitioners and their practice.
Compeng interests
This article was prepared by R.S.S.M. using her own views
and not in any official position of any institution.
Authors’ contribuons
R.S.S.M. was the sole author for this article.
Data availability statement
Data sharing is not applicable to this article as no new data
were created or analysed in this study.
Disclaimer
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of
the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or
position of any affiliated agency of the authors.
References
Ausn, K., 2017, Applicaon of mulple intelligence theory in the classroom, St Cloud
State University, Minnesota.
Choo, G., 2015, The hundred languages of children, viewed 30 August 2018, from
hps://www.viverointernaonal.com/pdf/Eton Newsleer 2-2015e.pdf.
Con-Ramsden, G. & Durkin, K., 2012, ‘Language development and assessment in the
preschool period’, Neuropsychology Review 22(4), 384–401. hps://doi.
org/10.1007/s11065-012-9208-z
Department of Basic Educaon (DBE), 2015, The South African naonal curriculum
framework for children from Birth to four: Comprehensive version, Department of
Basic Educaon, Pretoria.
Diamond, M., 1988, Enriching heredity: The impact of the environment on the
anatomy of the brain, The Free Press, New York.
Edwards, C., 1998, ‘Nurturer and guide: The role of the teacher ’, in C. Edwards,
L. Gandini & G. Forman (eds.), The hundred languages of children: The Reggio
Emilia approach – Advanced reecons, 2nd edn., pp. 179–198, Ablex Publishing
Corporaon, Greenwich, England.
Edwards, C., Gandini, L. & Forman, G., 2012, ‘Introducon: Background and starng
points’, in C. Edwards, L. Gandini & G. Forman (eds.), The hundred languages of
children: The Reggio Emilia experience in transformaon, 3rd edn., pp 5–26, ABC-
CLIO, Santa Barbara, CA.
Freire, M., Serrano-Laguna, A., Manero, B. & Marnez-Orz, I., 2016, ‘Game learning
analycs: Learning analycs for serious games’, in M. Freire, A. Serrano-Laguna, B.
Manero (eds.), Learning, design, and technology, pp. 1–29, Springer Internaonal,
Cham, Switzerland.
Gandini, L., 2004, ‘Foundaons of the Reggio approach’, in J. Hendrick (ed.), Next steps
towards teaching the Reggio way, pp. 13–26, Merrill/Pearson, Upper Saddle
River, NJ.
Gandini, L., 2011a, ‘Play and the hundred languages of children: An interview with
Lella Gandini’, American Journal of Play 4(1), 1–18. hps://www.journalofplay.
org/sites/www.journalofplay.org/les/pdf-arcles/4-1-interview-gandini.pdf.
Gandini, L., 2011b, ‘The challenge of assessment: Scaling-up the Reggio Emilia
approach in the USA?’, viewed 30 April 2018, from hps://earlychildhoodmagazine.
org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/ECM117_The-challenge-of-assessment_-
scaling-up-the-Reggio_15.pdf.
Gandini, L., Edwards, C. & Forman, G., 2014, ‘Memories of Malaguzzi’, in J.A. Kaminsky
& L. Gandini (eds.), Innovaons in early educaon: The internaonal Reggio Emilia
exchange, North American Reggio Emilia Alliance, Canton St. Roswell, GA, viewed
12 July 2019, from hps://www.reggioalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/
March-2014.pdf.
Gardner, H., 1988, Frames of mind: The theory of mulple intelligences, Basic Books,
New York.
Gardner, H., 2011, ‘Intelligence, creavity, ethics: Reecons on my evolving research
interests’, Gied Child Quarterly 55(4), 302–304.
Gates of Discovery, 2013, The hundred languages of children, viewed 13 August 2018,
from hps://www.gatesofdiscovery.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2018/07/
hundredlanguages.pdf.
Goodwin College, 2018, The hundred languages of children: What they are & how
they inform Reggio Emilia learning, viewed 19 April 2018, from hps://www.
goodwin.edu/enews/hundred-languages-of-children/.
Hall, C., 2013, Implemenng a Reggio Emilia inspired approach in a mainstream
Western Australian context: The impact on early childhood teachers’ professional
role, Edith Cowan University, Perth, Australia.
Ho, E., 2009, ‘Language development at an early age: Learning mechanisms and
outcomes from birth to ve years’, in S. Rvachew (ed.), Language development
and literary, pp. 7–10, McGill University, Montreal, Canada, hps://www.child-
encyclopedia.com/sites/default/files/dossiers-complets/en/language-
development-and-literacy.pdf.
Imenda, G.M., 2012, The promoon and benets of play in foundaon phase teaching
and learning, University of Zululand, Durban, South Africa.
Kennedy, A. & Barble, L., 2010, ‘Learning through play: Supporng the early years
learning framework’, viewed 13 April 2018, from https://www.
earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/our-publications/research-practice-series/
research-pracce-series-index/2010-issues/learning-teaching-play-supporng-
early-years-learning-framework/.
Kumbar, R., 2016, Applicaon of Howard Gardner’s mulple intelligence theory for the
eecve use of library resources by K-2 Students: An experimented mode, Zydus
School of Excellence, Ahmedabad University, Gujarat, India.
Law, J., 2015, The importance of oral language and its implicaons for early years’
pracce: A report to good start early learning, viewed 17 May 2018, from hps://
www.goodstart.org.au/getmedia/8cd15601-203c-441a-a54f-61caccb4eb22/The-
importance-of-oral-language-and-its-implicaons-for-early-years-pracce.pdf.aspx.
Malaguzzi, L., 1994, ‘Your image of the child: Where teaching begins’, Child Care
Informaon Exchange 3(94), 52–61. hps://www.reggioalliance.org/downloads/
malaguzzi:ccie:1994.pdf.
Malaguzzi, L., 2012, ‘No way the hundred is there’, in C. Edwards, L. Gandini & G.
Forman (eds.), The hundred languages of children: The Reggio Emilia experience
in transformaon, 3rd edn., p. 3, ABC-CLIO, Santa Barbara, CA.
Millikan, J., 2003, Reecons: Reggio Emilia principles within Australian contexts,
Pademelon Press, Castle Hill, Australia.
Moustakas, C., 1994, Phenomenological research methods, Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA.
Page 10 of 10 Original Research
hp://www.sajce.co.za Open Access
Norton-Taylor, V. & Lighoot, S., 2017, Developing the role of the Atelierista, viewed
27 May 2018, from hps://www.researchgate.net/publicaon/314282114_
Developing_the_role_of_the_atelierista.
Olsson, L.M., 2009, Movement and experimentaon in young children’s learning:
Deleuze and Guaari in early childhood educaon, Routledge, New York.
Pinnock, H. & Vijayakumar, G., 2009, Language and educaon: The missing link how
the language used in schools threatens the achievement of educaon for all, CfBT
Educaon Trust, Berkshire, England.
Pitsoe, V.J., 2008, A conceptual analysis of construcvist classroom management,
University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa.
Reggio Children, 2018, Atelier, Fondazione Reggio Children Centro Loris Malaguzzi,
Emilia-Romagna, Italy.
Shpendi, T., Ahmetoğlu, E. & Aksin Yavus, E., 2018, ‘Montessori approach and
Gardner’s theory of mulple intelligences’, in R. Efe, I. Koleva & E. Atasoy (eds.),
Recent researches in educaon, pp. 450–465, Cambridge Scholars Publishing,
Newcastle upon Tyne, England.
Slipp, K., 2017, The image of a child and the Reggio Emilia philosophy, University of
Victoria, Canada.
Smidt, S., 2013, Introducing Malaguzzi: Exploring the life and work of Reggio Emilia’s
founding father, Routledge, Ontario, Canada.
Smith, D.W., 2018, ‘Phenomenology’, in N.E. Zalta (ed.), The Stanford encyclopaedia of
philosophy, pp. 1–7, Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University, CA.
Smith, K.M., 2008, Howard Gardner and mulple intelligences, viewed 30 August
2018, from hps://infed.org/mobi/howard-gardner-mulple-intelligences-and-
educaon/.
Şule, E., 2017, ‘Arranging play and learning environments in early years classroom’, in
K. Irina & D. Gӧkhan (eds.), Educaonal research and pracce, pp. 54–64,
St. Kliment Ohridski University Press, Soa, Bulgaria.
Thornton, L. & Brunton, P., 2015, Understanding the Reggio approach, Fulton, London,
England.
Vecchi, V., 1998, ‘The role of the Atelierista: An interview with Lella Gandini’, in
C. Edwards, L. Gandini & G. Forman (eds.), The hundred languages of children: The
Reggio Emilia approach – Advanced reecons, 2nd edn., pp. 139–147, Ablex
Publishing Corporaon, Greenwich, England.
Von Glasersfeld, E., 1989, ‘Cognion, construcon of knowledge, and teaching’,
Synthese 80(1), 121–140, viewed 23 May 2018, from hps://www.univie.ac.at/
construcvism/EvG/papers/118.pdf.
Wilson, S.D., 2018, ‘Implemenng co-creaon and mulple intelligence pracces to
transform the classroom experience’, Contemporary Issues in Educaon Research
(CIER) 11(4), 127–132. hps://doi.org/10.19030/cier.v11i4.10206
Zosh, J.M., Hopkins, E.J., Jensen, H., Liu, C., Neale, D., Hirsh-Pasek, K. et al., 2017, Learning
through play: A review of the evidence (White Paper), The Lego Foundaon, Denmark.
