A recent trip to Modena, Italy brought two countries, two institutions, two educational systems together. Educators in the United States and Italy agree that children are the future and have joined in an educational partnership because of that agreement.

Arizona State University and the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia (Unimore) worked together to accomplish a shared goal as part of their international research project MIQUA. The acronym stands for migliorare qualità, which means “to improve quality” in Italian. ASU and Unimore sought to improve the quality of the pre-university system in both the United States and Italy. 

The five-day conference started with a series of workshops focusing on the design, implementation and evaluation of education partnerships.  During these workshops, the ASU team visited Reggio Children, a mixed public-private company dedicated to improving the local infant-toddler centers, and the Laboratory of Mathematical Machines at Unimore. They focused on the importance of educational methods in the local setting as well as relationships with students and their families.

In addition to the visits, the MIQUA research team and education experts participated in a seminar called “Improving the Quality of Education: Challenges and experiences from the United States and Italy.” Among the keynote speakers was Eugene E. Garcia, the ASU Vice President for Education Partnerships.

Note: Read the full article at ASU goes abroad for international education research project