A learning philosophy that I think goes hand in hand with any project styled learning situation. a constructivist approach to early education. "Reggio Emilia's approach does challenge some conceptions of teacher competence and developmentally appropriate practice. For example, teachers in Reggio Emilia assert the importance of being confused as a contributor to learning; thus a major teaching strategy is purposely to allow mistakes to happen, or to begin a project with no clear sense of where it might end."
Big RE fan..Your comment makes me think: Any examples of teachers working with kids on themes similar to the ones we're talking about? I'll snoop around a little.