ECEC sector pays tribute to Professor Carla Rinaldi 

The global early childhood education and care (ECEC) sector has responded with sadness to news of the passing of Professor Carlina (Carla) Rinaldi, who was viewed as a world leader in education for children in the early years.

Professor Rinaldi worked side-by-side with Loris Malaguzzi, the founder of the Reggio Emilia Approach, from 1970 until his death in 1994 in the municipal infant toddler and preschool system of Reggio Emilia, where she was the first pedagogical coordinator.

She served as a pedagogical/scientific consultant for Reggio Children S.r.l. since 1994, following the supervision of all Reggio Children initiatives, was the President of The Foundation Reggio Children Centro Loris Malaguzzi, Reggio Emilia from 2007 to 2016, and in September 2011 was appointed as President of Reggio Children – Loris Malaguzzi Centre Foundation.

She also served as a Professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia since 2003. She was responsible for research projects in collaboration with Harvard University, the University of New Hampshire and the University of Milan – Bicocca.

Professor Rinaldi was also the vice-president of the Gruppo Nazionale Nidi-Infanzia (National Early Childhood Association) and has had tenures as visiting Professor at the Webster University (St. Louis, Missouri) and at the Colorado University (Boulder, Colorado).

From 2004-2007, she was a member of the Reggio Emilia City Council. In 2007 and 2008, she was appointed as a consultant in several different Commissions of the Italian Ministry of Education. 

Professor Rinaldi was also a speaker at numerous seminars and conferences in Italy as well as in Europe, the United States, Australia and Asia.

In 2011 she was invited to participate in the Presidential Conference on Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) “Excellence and Equity in Early Childhood Education and Care”, Budapest.

In 2010 she participated in the UNESCO World Conference on Early Childhood Education and Care “Building the Wealth of Nations”, Moscow. 

Professor Rinaldi lectured frequently on the Reggio Emilia experience, and published many articles, chapters, and books in Italian and English.

Professor Rinaldi was invited by the South Australian Government to be an Adelaide Thinker in Residence (2012 – 2013). At the close of her residency, she provided recommendations about strengthening early childhood across the state through the Re-imagining Childhood: The inspiration of Reggio Emilia education principles in South Australia report. 

The Report offered South Australians profoundly challenging questions to provoke the state’s thinking about childhood. Until her passing Professor Rinaldi continued to support South Australia in “re-imagining childhood.”

In 2015 she was awarded with the 2015 LEGO Prize and she became a member of the Advisory Board of the LEGO Foundation in Denmark.

In 2016 she represented the Reggio Emilia School at the Memorial Celebration of University Professor Emeritus Jerome S. Bruner organised by New York University School of Law and she participated at The Arts and Passion-Driven Learning organized by Harvard Graduate School of Education.

“Carla’s inspiration will live on through a renewed commitment to listen, learn and reimagine children’s education for a just society,” a spokesperson from Reggio Emilia Australia Information Exchange (REAIE) wrote.

“As a guiding force behind Reggio Children and later the Fondazione Reggio Children – Centro Loris Malaguzzi, Carla’s vision and leadership shaped the global understanding of the Reggio Emilia Approach. Her rich and impactful collaborations with REAIE and over many decades have been instrumental in bringing this powerful pedagogical philosophy into the lives of Australian children, educators, and families.”

Professor Rinaldi’s passing represents a tremendous loss to the ECEC sector as a whole, and she will be remembered as a transformational source of knowledge, advocacy, and respect for children. 

Vale, Professor Carla Rinaldi.