Relational Environments: Translating Conference Learning into Classroom Practice Through Design, Documentation, and Dialogue, Hertz Hausman, Summer 2026

Course Description

Course Description: This course supports early childhood educators in translating learning from the 22nd NAREA Summer Conference (In Celebration of the Voices of Democracy: Documenting as an Act of Meaning-Making, Community-Building, and Joy, June 25–27, 2026), and Reggio Children’s Mosaic of Marks, Words, Material Exhibition and Atelier into their own early learning contexts.

Early childhood educators are invited to examine and redesign their learning environments as a powerful pedagogical force — the “third teacher.” Designed for educators of all age groups and levels of familiarity with the Reggio Emilia approach, the course begins with a virtual framing session, continues with in-person learning during the conference, and concludes with structured virtual follow-up sessions focused on translation to practice.

Participants will explore how their physical spaces communicate values, how materials invite thinking, how documentation shapes participation, and how environments can foster agency, democracy, and joy. Through reflection, dialogue, environmental analysis, and applied redesign, educators will reimagine their classrooms as intentional spaces for learning.

Audience: Early childhood educators of children 0-8 years of age.

Course Goals & Objectives

Course Goals:

• To guide teachers in reflecting on the pedagogical theories presented at the 22nd NAREA Summer Conference and the daily realities of the participant's specific early learning environment.
• To cultivate the habit of professional inquiry, where educators view their own classrooms as laboratories for research and reflection.
• To evaluate and redesign physical spaces and material offerings so they act as a "third teacher," fostering autonomy, creativity, and joy.

Course Objectives:

• Analyze conference sessions and exhibition experiences as sites of pedagogical inquiry.
• Critically reflect on their own classroom environment, materials, and documentation systems.
• Design an intentional shift in the classroom environment grounded in Reggio-inspired principles.
• Create documentation that honors children’s voices and ways of knowing.

Course Schedule:

Phase 1: Framing the Inquiry (Virtual – Pre-Conference)

• Session 1: Establishing a personal question of inquiry
• Inquiry Statement Due

Phase 2: 22nd NAREA Summer Conference, Winooski, VT (In-Person)

• Session 2: In-person gatherings as a cohort at the conference
• Conference Fieldwork Journal

Phase 3: Translation to Practice (Virtual – Post-Conference)

• Session 3: Initial reflections and framing the inquiry
• Environment & Materials Analysis

Session 4: Investigating practice and interpreting meaning

• Pedagogical Shift Plan & Implementation

Session 5: Reflection and planning forward

• Final Project: Making Learning Visible to a Wider Community

Instructor

Christine Hertz Hausman is an educator, author, and thought partner who supports teachers in play, inquiry, and project-based learning, as well as early literacy. She is the co-author, with Kristi Mraz, of Kids First from Day One and A Mindset for Learning. Christine has a background in early childhood education and literacy. A former classroom teacher, she now facilitates professional learning and raises her two young children with her spouse in Vermont.

Required Readings/Resources

Cost for required resources, if any, are not included in the course tuition.

Mosaic of Marks, Words, Material Edited by Vea Vecchi and Mirella Ruozzi Reggio Children, Italy, 2015

This text is the companion book to the Reggio Children exhibit Mosaic of Marks, Words, Material that will be in Winooski, Vermont this summer and that will be part of the NAREA Summer conference. It illuminates how children construct meaning through materials, marks, and symbolic languages, directly reflecting the philosophy behind the Reggio Children Mosaic exhibit. It provides essential theoretical and visual documentation that helps educators interpret children’s expressive processes and connect them to the exhibit’s focus on learning as a mosaic of experiences.

Stacey, Susan. Inquiry-Based Early Learning Environments: Creating, Supporting, and Collaborating. Redleaf Press, 2018. ISBN 978-1605545813.

Stacey’s work offers practical frameworks for designing inquiry-driven learning environments, supporting educators in translating Reggio-inspired ideas into classroom practice. It is essential for helping participants connect the exhibit’s concepts with strategies for fostering curiosity, collaboration, and documentation in early childhood settings.

Bartlett, S. (2015) Amiable space in the schools of Reggio Emilia: An interview with Lella Gandini. Children’s Environments, 10 (2).

This interview explores the concept of “amiable space,” a key principle in Reggio Emilia schools where the environment acts as a third teacher. It deepens participants’ understanding of how thoughtfully designed spaces support relationships, creativity, and learning—an idea central to both the Mosaic exhibit and the course experience at the NAREA conference.

Caceres-Gelinas, M., Wellington, E., & Lagunas, M. (2023). Movement in nature: A threshold for knowledge through relationships, connection, and empathy. Innovations in Early Education: The International Reggio Emilia Exchange, 30(1), 26–45. https://www.reggioalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/NAR23_Innovations_301_web_watermark_spread-low_BrightStart.pdf

Boritz, Jessica. (2025). The Aesthetics of Togetherness: How Beauty Invites, Sustains, and Reflects Participation, Democratic Engagement, and Solidarity. Innovations in Early Education: The International Reggio Emilia Exchange, 32 (2), 32-52.

Martín Domínguez, Guiomar (2024). The beauty of the unusual: An architectural inquiry into the Reggio Emilia approach. Interchange. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10780-024-09525-y

Rönkkö, Maija, Puhakka, Sirpa, & Sahlberg, Pasi (2025). Active learning environments tailored to pedagogical principles: A spatial design tool for school workshop spaces. Discover Education. https://doi.org/10.1007/s44217-025-00869-w

Additional course information

Christine Hertz Hausman

(802) 274-9164

For additional registration information

Center for Schools Team
(802) 468-1325

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