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On a cold July night, parents, educators and school leaders gathered in the Catherine Community Centre at the Nazareth Catholic Community primary campus for a conversation with Carla Rinaldi.

The session titled Listening to Children’s Learning – A Conversation with Carla Rinaldi was one in a series of events and seminars with Carla presented by Catholic Education SA as part of our sector’s ever growing work on Re-imagining Childhood. The evening was hosted by the Federation of Catholic School Parent Communities and in her opening address, Executive Director, Ann Bliss said:

“..it makes sense to include a session dedicated to the parent and to the family for the child and the parent are inextricably linked. As we re-imagine childhood, we must re-imagine parenthood – reimagine the family.

For, in Carla’s own words, when a child is born, a parent is born.

And so for parents begins a journey of discovery.

Discovering our child’s inherent competence as he or she grows, develops, learns, wonders, solves and creates.

What is unfolding before our eyes is so inextricably linked to the love, support and nurturing that we offer as parents for it is the family that provides a child’s first, ongoing and most significant experience of love, faith and learning.

And it is the family that observes in awe everything the child does and revels in its magic. We sit and listen to the learning. We listen intently as we’ve never listened before. For this child is a wonder to us and we are deeply drawn in.

For this reason, our observations, our knowledge of our child and deep connection to our child as a learner is of great value to those with whom we partner to support this learning – the child care worker, the teacher, the school community.

As parents, let us be empowered by this expertise.

As first teacher, we enter into a rich and essential partnership with carers and educators who bring their own expertise, knowledge and skills to the partnership. How powerful is this?

The listening continues. We listen together. The teaching continues. We teach together. The learning continues and together we share our observations. This is the essential conversation. Tonight is part of this conversation”.

In her presentation, Carla called us to acknowledge and celebrate the capable child – capable from birth of so much. She implored those present to ‘listen’ for this learning as the child communicates this in a hundred ways. Children communicate their learning, their knowledge and their thirst to learn in words, actions and movement and in so many other ways. We are called to listen, celebrate and support this learning. We are called to reflect on our image of the child as a learner. Are they ‘empty vessels to be filled with knowledge’ or are they capable citizens of the world with a myriad of inherent capabilities to be ‘listened to’ and nurtured.

Short, powerful video vignettes of the capable child in action reinforced this message with humour and delight.

Carla’s second key message was for parents to acknowledge their role as first educators, for carers and educators to acknowledge the role of parents and for both to seek out, invite and nurture a deep partnership to share each other’s observations of a child’s learning and support the child on this learning and life journey by creating a rich and ‘intelligent’ environment in which the child can flourish. A rich and powerful interdependence between child, parent, teacher and environment.

Expanding on this message, Carla challenged us to not only enter into this partnership for the sake of one’s own child but for the collective good of all children – in the learning group, in the school, in the community – for the sake of all humanity.