Co-Constructing Sustainable Collaborations in Early Childhood Settings through the Arts

This article reflects the inquiries and discoveries experienced by early childhood educators and teaching artists involved in participatory action research designed to explore how to co-construct sustainable collaborations in early childhood settings. Drawing inspiration from the Reggio Emilia Approach and other international examples, the authors detail how professional development through collaborative research leads to co-constructed experiences that significantly impact artistic encounters for children. This article highlights a two-year research project, named the Leading Learning Council (LLC), and focuses on overarching pedagogical practices, the role of documentation and reflection in the co-construction of arts experiences for educators and children, an example of the classroom as a laboratory, and considerations for applying the model within diverse early childhood settings. A significant outcome of the project was participant recognition of leadership roles in sustaining collaborative arts-based approaches in early childhood education.