Models of teaching: Models of teaching reflect our ideas about how the teaching environment should be arranged, and about planning, assessment, and how children and teachers should relate to one another. The models we choose are often those with are consistent with our own beliefs, experiences, and values and reflect how we view children, teaching, and learning.

Reggio Emilia approach: The Reggio Emilia approach, named for the Italian city in which it originated, has drawn from a wide range of theories and philosophies including those of Vygotsky, Piaget, Bruner, Gardner, and Dewey as well as Socialist-Communist political ideology and postmodernism. The notion that teachers are researchers who are learning with and from children is central to this approach.

Teachers as intellectuals: The view of the teacher as an intellectual acknowledges that teachers produce knowledge and transform their own practice and classrooms. They do not simply absorb and teach the curriculum in predetermined ways like technicians. 

Pedagogical documentation: Pedagogical documentation is a reflective process which is part of the Reggio Emilia approach. It has taken different forms but aims to make learning visible by collecting photos, videos, recordings, and artefacts in the classroom while encouraging children’s participation.

Pedagogical narration: Pedagogical narration is a process that involves describing moments in the experiences of the children during observation. Such descriptions are often in oral, visual, or written form. Once the description is complete, the teacher can then reflect on possible meanings.

Learning stories: Learning stories involve children in the process of documenting an event or occurrence in their everyday learning. Learning stories are shared with families who can then add their comments to the story. They are often used for the purposes of assessment.

Action research: Action research is a form of research that takes place in one’s own classroom for the purposes of learning about aspects of one’s own practice. Teacher reflection is an integral part of action research.