Ateliers | Blog | �� - International Schools Bangkok

Why ��’s Learning Style Stands Out in Early Education

Stacey Primal — Mon, 19 May 2025 07:42:26 +0000

For over 40 years, the Early Learning Centre (��) has been a respected network of �� schools in Bangkok, Thailand, dedicated to outstanding early childhood education. �� operates six campuses, thoughtfully located in central areas, including 5 in prime downtown location in Thonglor and one next to the International School Bangkok (ISB), making it an ideal feeder school for families seeking continuity in high-quality education.

The network includes The City School Thonglor, which welcomes children aged 3 to 11 years, and four branches of The Purple Elephant, designed for toddlers aged 18 months to 3 years, located in Phrom Phong, Thonglor, and Nonthaburi. Additionally, The Dove Centre at The City School—a dedicated space for children whose needs are best supported in a more individualized learning environment—was recently opened

At the heart of ��’s approach is the Reggio Emilia philosophy; an educational model rooted in the belief that children learn best through hands-on, minds-on experiences. This approach emphasises project-based learning, encourages collaboration, and sees the environment as the “third teacher,” inspiring children to explore, question, and discover. ��’s commitment to experiential learning creates an engaging atmosphere where each child’s unique interests and learning styles are honoured, helping them develop into confident, capable, and curious learners.

Co-Constructing Learning

Learning at �� is a truly collaborative process—one that brings together children, educators, and parents as partners.

Children are seen as active contributors to their own learning, drawing on personal experiences, asking questions, and exploring ideas with curiosity and intent. Educators listen closely and engage with children’s thinking—hypothesizing, debating, and problem-solving alongside them—while using these insights to guide curriculum goals. Parents play an essential role in this partnership, helping extend learning beyond the classroom and offering valuable perspectives that shape the learning journey.

At ��, we combine the academic rigour of the Ontario (Canada) curriculum with a Reggio Emilia–inspired inquiry pedagogy. Through interdisciplinary Project work, creative exploration, and deep thinking, students are nurtured, challenged, and inspired to follow their interests and make meaningful connections with the world around them.

The Project

At ��, learning begins with a question, a spark of curiosity from a child that evolves into a journey of exploration. This journey is known as The Project. This is a long-term, interdisciplinary investigation that brings together science, literacy, mathematics, the arts, and more.

Projects are inspired by children’s interests and guided by skilled educators who help shape and extend their thinking through discussion, collaboration, and hands-on experiences. Classrooms become research labs, studios, and forums where young learners are encouraged to investigate the world with creativity, confidence, and purpose.

This approach nurtures a love of learning but also develops essential skills such as questioning, critical thinking, problem-solving, and teamwork. By exploring the “what,” “why,” and “how” behind each topic, children build deeper understanding and meaningful connections across disciplines, laying a strong foundation for lifelong learning.

The Ateliers

��’s dedication to creativity and exploration is evident in its specialized educational spaces called ateliers. Ateliers at �� are not just art rooms—they are dynamic spaces for research, expression, and discovery. Strategically located throughout our campuses, these studios invite children to explore ideas using a wide range of materials and mediums, from natural elements to digital tools.

Rooted in our Reggio Emilia–inspired approach, ateliers support children in investigating concepts, developing creative thinking, and expressing ideas through multiple forms. These flexible environments respond to children’s evolving interests and inquiries, offering opportunities to revisit and refine their thinking—deepening both their understanding of curricular ideas and their own creative potential.

The Teacher

At ��, your child is supported not by a single teacher, but by a team of dedicated educators and specialists. �� educators are not just teachers—they are facilitators, collaborators, and guides who enrich each child’s learning journey. Handpicked for their professionalism, experience and care, they understand the importance of building strong, trusting relationships with children and families.

Working together as a pedagogical team, our educators engage in ongoing research and reflection, continually refining their practice to support diverse learning styles and developmental needs. This collaborative approach allows for a rich, responsive learning environment—where children experience active, joyful learning that sparks curiosity, deep thinking, and a lifelong love for discovery.

The Environment

�� believes that the learning environment plays a crucial role in a child’s development. The campuses are intentionally designed to be rich, nurturing spaces that inspire curiosity and exploration. The aesthetically pleasing surroundings reflect the school’s values, demonstrating a commitment to creating spaces where children feel valued and motivated to learn. By integrating natural elements and thoughtfully arranged learning areas, ��’s environment serves as a “third teacher,” influencing and enhancing the educational experience and learning styles.

A School Designed for Lifelong Learning

��’s perspective on children is rooted in the belief that each child is competent, powerful, and full of potential. Knowing that unique and experiential learning according to individual needs is necessary, �� provides an education that respects and nurtures each child’s innate abilities and interests. By offering a collaborative learning community, project-based questioning, specialist creative spaces, and dedicated educators in a well-designed setting, �� can ensure that every child receives a holistic and enriching education.

For parents interested in exploring inquiry and project-based learning in Bangkok, �� is a leading network of �� kindergartens and elementary school in Bangkok. ��’s experiential approach nurtures curiosity, creativity, and a love for learning. Discover how this dynamic educational environment can support and enhance your child’s learning journey. Contact us for more information and we invite you to come visit our campus for an experience day.

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Delving into Identity in the Theatre of Imagination

Federico Evangelista — Mon, 23 Sep 2024 04:52:42 +0000

As part of their identity panel, our Y5-6 children have been spending time in our Theatre of Imagination atelier, experimenting with the languages of light, shadow, and photography to explore identity. Whilst self-portraiture allows the child to offer him or herself as both subject and artist, eliciting a strong statement on self, the children have also had the opportunity to photograph each other, deepening their understanding of the multi-layered concept of identity and provoking curiosity about the medium of photography, what it captures, and its relationship to ‘reality’:

‘In the Theatre of Imagination, you express your personality to others through colour and expressions…I think it’s better to express your individuality or personality instead of your face.’ Misaki

‘When you take a photo, it captures yourself and the experiences you have been in.’ Tun

‘Photography can sometimes be a good way to represent identity. It’s not a good way when someone tells you to sit in a particular way and look a certain way. It can be meaningful when you choose how you want to be photographed.’ Zoe

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What is an Atelier? Space, Concept, Relationship

Federico Evangelista — Mon, 07 Mar 2022 06:03:38 +0000

An ‘atelier’ is a space for research in which children engage with a wide variety of materials and tools in ways designed to generate questions, inquiry, creativity, discovery, and invention. Whilst the atelier is a place where children can express their ideas using any number of creative and symbolic languages, it should not be mistaken for an ‘art’ or ‘technology’ studio in the traditional sense; it is more akin to a conceptual zone of research where children and adults co-construct knowledge through experimentation with a multitude of materials and tools, provoking conversations, investigations, and the development of ideas. In this respect, the atelier is a philosophical approach as much as it is a physical space; it is the fertile soil for the children’s interdisciplinary research. The atelier both effects, and is a product of, the interactions and developing relationships between children and adults. By virtue of this relational, collaborative approach, we focus on the formative aspects of our shared learning journey.

At ��, we have eight working ateliers strategically placed throughout the school: Atelier of Nature; Atelier of Digital Technology & Media Communications; Atelier of Light; Atelier of Humanistic Mathematics; Atelier of Expressive Languages; Atelier of Future Artisans; Theatre of Imagination; and an Atelier of Water. Our resident ‘Atelieristas’ are individuals with professional backgrounds in the creative arts and technologies; he or she works with classroom teachers and coordinators to facilitate creation and innovation in empathy with the directions of learning and research projects, and is responsible for documenting the evolution of the children’s ideas and their communications, to which the atelier can respectfully adapt.

‘Alphabet of a Material’: Delving into the Atelier

In the atelier, children develop a ‘relational, empathic approach to materials’ (Pucci). Children are offered up many different types of materials -clay, wire, natural objects, paint, light, water, digital cameras, and so on – and these different materials afford different ways of thinking; materials themselves are intrinsic to the learning process as they help students generate new ideas and reflect upon their own thinking. A fundamental part of the interaction between the student and the material involves the development of what is called an ‘alphabet’ or ‘grammar’. ��’s pedagogical consultant, Giovanni Piazza, has written extensively on this subject: ‘As the children use paper, clay, wire and so on, different alphabets will develop from different materials. As children use their minds and hands to act on a material using gestures and tools and begin to acquire skills, experience, strategies, and rules, structures are developed that can be considered a sort of alphabet or grammar.’ There are at once the natural characteristics and qualities of a material, but it is only through interaction with the material that an understanding of the ‘alphabet’ emerges; the children experiment and discover the range of possible transformations that the material can undergo. Once holding the knowledge of the ‘alphabet’ of a material, students can then know what can be offered and can make the most efficacious choices to draw on these alphabets in their own processes of representation and to elaborate their ideas.

Aesthetics

A distinguishing feature of the atelier and how it is singularly critical to learning at �� relates to the processes of knowledge-building and meaning-making it invites and nurtures. The atelier supports what is called the ‘aesthetic’ or ‘poetic’ ways of knowing and understanding (Vecchi). Sensory perceptions and sensory joys are powerful learning provocations, the ‘aesthetic’ bequeaths a way of seeing that makes for more complete experiential knowledge. But more than this, the power of the ‘aesthetic’ lies in its capacity to make connections. If it is commonplace to assume that art is ‘expressive’ and mathematics ‘ratiocinative’, then this is a failure of imagination; the atelier breaks down these rigidities and purported binaries of ‘rationality’ and ‘emotion’ and the compartmentalization of disciplines, and provides a space where the ‘aesthetic’ is encouraged across all disciplines. When we incorporate the aesthetic dimension into learning, we are stimulating the mind to make connections and patterns, it plasticizes the mind and cultivate an openness, generosity, and freedom in children. In this respect, it has been claimed that this pedagogical approach unifies ethics and aesthetics insofar as imagination and creativity contribute to our ethical ‘good’ (Vecchi). But arguably the ‘aesthetic-ethical’ gambit can be pressed further. The ethical and aesthetic are unified insofar as they transcend propositional language, ‘they do not signify, but rather simply ‘show’ (Stengel on Wittgenstein, 2004); so we might say that in welcoming the ‘aesthetic’, we necessarily respect the expression of the individual’s ethical perspective manifest in their learning journey.

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Ateliers | Blog | ������ - International Schools Bangkok

Why ������’s Learning Style Stands Out in Early Education