Jewish teachers desert Reggio Children's project: "No to anti-occupation tests". Controversy

REGGIO EMILIA – One hundred Jewish teachers canceled a study trip to Reggio Emilia after they were asked to sign a document distancing themselves from the Israeli occupation of Gaza. Jewish Insider reports.

The portal recalls that the group of educators from the 'Paradigm Project' should have arrived in Italy from Israel and the United States to participate, from today until Friday, in an in-depth program of the so-called 'Reggio Emilia Method' for early childhood, a pedagogical approach adopted for some time by numerous Jewish nursery schools and the subject of Princess Catherine of Wales' first trip abroad after her illness. The initiative of the Jewish teachers, however, was contested by some parents of the Reggio Children organization, according to whom some of the participants were supporters of the actions of the Israeli army in Gaza, and the climate in the city had become overheated. Hence the request to sign a declaration. “I distance myself from the occupation of Gaza and the violation of the rights of children and human beings in the occupied territories and elsewhere in the world,” the text read, according to the Jewish Insider.

The 'Paradigm Project' found this unacceptable. “Our identities were made public and our personal and institutional social media profiles were examined and presented as evidence of our support for Israel and the IDF,” said Pesha Kletenik, head of Manhattan Day School and one of the educators who had planned to participate.

The Paradigm Project therefore decided to cancel the trip and informed Reggio Children of this, with a letter sent on October 7, the anniversary of the 2023 terrorist attacks. The organization explained that the trip had been designed exclusively to allow teachers to learn from the Reggio Emilia Method, but for this "a calm and open environment" is needed and "in the current climate, we do not believe that our educators could have lived the experience as it was conceived".

However, the group expressed the hope that the relationship with Reggio Children has not been irreparably compromised and assured that it intends to continue the dialogue to rethink the experience and, in the future, return to collaboration.

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But the case immediately becomes political. For the Minister of European Affairs Tommaso Foti "the resignation of the delegation of American Jewish teachers is a serious matter, which requires political reflection. A city that calls for inclusion and dialogue cannot allow educational debate to end up crushed by ideological conflicts".