The Reggio Emilia Approach Acclaimed by Newsweek magazine (1991) as an international model for preschools, the Reggio Emilia Approach has captured the attention of early childhood educators. In 1999, the current Minister of Education, Richard W. Riley, visited the schools of Reggio Emilia to better understand the benefits (Dunne, 2000). Its principles are understood by only a few, however, and it has a limited following with around 1200 Reggio Emilia-inspired preschools in operation, most of them private (Sipprelle, 2009), making the innovative ideas offered by this approach available only to a few. Why have so few schools emulated the highly successful ones in Reggio Emilia, Italy? Is Reggio Emilia applicable in the American classroom? A look at the history, theory, practices, and application of this approach reveals both the benefits and challenges of adapting it to the current educational system in the United States. Since its origins, the Reggio Emilia approach has given high priority to children. After the devastation of World War II, the Italian government granted each municipality a subsidy to use in any way they saw fit to re-establish the sense of community that had been taken away during the war. While many cities have used the money to create municipal public spaces, the city of Reggio Emilia decided to use the money to build a school for children from birth to six years old, as an investment in the future of the entire community. Led by Loris Malaguzzi, known as the father of the Reggio Emilia approach, the school was developed with the mindset that children were active and capable contributors to society. The philosophy has been shaped by a number of constructivist theories, including those of Vygotsky and Piaget. The idea of ​​community collaboration... in the center of the paper... defined by words like standards and performance. Theory and best practices have been established by academic scholars and are expected to be carried forward by teachers, requiring them to reach a certain standard. Teachers themselves are not always believed to create appropriate curricula in response to children's needs and they must be so for the Reggio Emilia approach to be fully successful. Works Cited Sisson, Jamie Huff. “Making Sense of Competing Constructs of the Teacher as a Professional.” Journal of Childhood Education Research 23.3 (2009): 351+. Academic OneFile. Network. November 16, 2011. Abramson, S., Ankenman, K., & Robinson, R. (1995). Project work with different students: adaptation of the curriculum based on the Reggio Emilia approach. Early Childhood Education, 71(4), 197+. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA16864617&v=2.1&u=lom_accessmich&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w