School choice

Reggio Emilia or Academically selective?

The difference between Reggio Emilia and Academically selective is mostly one axis: measuring it. Reggio Emilia sits firmly toward no grades, no tests; Academically selective sits firmly toward graded and tested regularly. They agree, more than most people expect, on a view of the world and technology at school. Neither is the correct one. What follows is what each asks of a parent, and where the difference actually shows up on a Tuesday.

Reggio Emilia

There is no curriculum set in advance. Teachers watch what a group of children is drawn to, document it obsessively, and build long projects out of it — which may run for months. The environment is treated as a third teacher, expression takes a hundred forms, and the documentation on the walls is the record of the thinking rather than display work.

What it asks of you

  • Tolerating genuine uncertainty about what your child will study this term
  • A school with the staffing to do it, since the method is expensive in adult attention
  • Reading the documentation, which is where the learning is visible and is easy to walk past
  • Accepting it is an early-years approach; few Reggio schools run past six

Academically selective

A demanding academic programme with an entrance examination, a cohort selected for ability and for the families willing to prepare for it, and university as the explicit aim throughout. The teaching is usually excellent, the peer effects are real, and the measured advantage shrinks dramatically once you account for who was admitted in the first place.

What it asks of you

  • Preparation for entry, which for most families means tutoring and a year of it
  • A child who can carry sustained academic pressure, which not all can and few can predict
  • Fees or a move, and often both
  • Being clear-eyed that you are buying a cohort as much as a school
Side by side

Where they differ

Reggio Emilia is the filled marker, Academically selective the hollow one. Widest difference first.

L3Measuring it
no grades, no testsgraded and tested regularly

Reggio Emilia sits firmly toward no grades, no tests; Academically selective sits firmly toward graded and tested regularly.

L4Where the curriculum comes from
it emerges from the childrena fixed body of knowledge, set in advance

Reggio Emilia sits firmly toward it emerges from the children; Academically selective sits toward a fixed body of knowledge, set in advance.

V3What it is for
childhood is the pointit should set up university and a career

Reggio Emilia sits toward childhood is the point; Academically selective sits firmly toward it should set up university and a career.

L1Who directs the day
the child chooses what to dotimetabled, and directed by adults

Reggio Emilia sits toward the child chooses what to do; Academically selective sits firmly toward timetabled, and directed by adults.

L2When formal academics start
when the child is ready, and late is fineearly, and ambitiously

Reggio Emilia sits toward when the child is ready, and late is fine; Academically selective sits firmly toward early, and ambitiously.

L5What a teacher is
a guide who steps backan authority who instructs

Reggio Emilia sits toward a guide who steps back; Academically selective sits toward an authority who instructs.

E2Outdoors and the body
learning happens at a tableoutdoors and hands-on is the point

Reggio Emilia sits toward outdoors and hands-on is the point; Academically selective sits toward learning happens at a table.

E1Mixed ages
classes of the same agemixed-age groups

Reggio Emilia sits between the two; Academically selective sits firmly toward classes of the same age.

V2Who else is there
a broad, mixed intake matters mosta community that shares our values matters most

Reggio Emilia sits between the two; Academically selective sits toward a community that shares our values matters most.

C1What the family can put inwhat your life allows
school has to run without the parentsbeing in it, daily

Reggio Emilia sits toward being in it, daily; Academically selective sits between the two.

Where they agree

Usually more than the argument between them suggests.

  • A view of the world. Both sit a little toward school should stay neutral.
  • Technology at school. Both sit between the two.

Neither of these is the correct one

Which fits depends on what you value and on what your week actually allows — and the second of those is the half nobody writes about. The questionnaire scores both.

See which one you are already doing