Carla Rinaldi & Edith Ackermann in Conversation
The video (below) is a very special one. It features two of my sheroes, Dr. Edith Ackermann and Carla Rinaldi in conversation at the 2016 Constructing Modern Knowledge summer institute. I don’t even remember the conversation, and frankly wish I wasn’t in it, but am most grateful that I found a video file of the event and am thrilled to be able to preserve and share a small piece of their genius with you.
Edith Ackermann was a Swiss epistemologist, designer, professor, and visionary who always had just the right and most profound thing to say at any moment. In a more just world, Edith would be a household name. After all, she worked with three of the greatest learning theorists of the 20th century – Jean Piaget, Ernst von Glasersfeld,AND Seymour Papert. She also supervised close to 90 PhD dissertations at M.I.T. Edith’s participation in several Constructing Modern Knowledge institutes is one of the highlights of my life.
We lost Edith in 2016 and our mutual friend, Carla Rinaldi, passed sadly just a few weeks ago, in April 2025. Carla Rinaldi was the leading light of the Reggio Emilia Approach. She was the direct link to Loris Malaguzzi, the father of the Reggio Emilia Approach who served as a teacher, pedagogista, President of Reggio Children, and Fondazione Reggio Children. Carla’s playful brilliance touched and inspired educators, parents, and policy makers across the globe. She was a warrior on behalf children, their rights, and the health of their communities. (Learn more about Carla Rinaldi through words and video here)
The world will never again see the likes of giants like Edith Ackermann and Carla Rinaldi. Therefore, it is with great pride that I share this recorded discussion from Constructing Modern Knowledge 2016.
Speaking of Constructing Modern Knowledge… Did you know that the gold standard for learning-by-doing professional development experiences will be held in Melbourne, Australia this August? Please join educators from around the world at CMK Australia, August 12-15th, 2025. Learn more at constructingmodernknowledge.com
Veteran educator Gary Stager, Ph.D. is the author of Twenty Things to Do with a Computer – Forward 50, co-author of Invent To Learn — Making, Tinkering, and Engineering in the Classroom, publisher at Constructing Modern Knowledge Press, and the founder of the Constructing Modern Knowledge institute. He led professional development in the world’s first 1:1 laptop schools thirty years ago and designed one of the first online graduate school programs. Gary is also the curator of The Seymour Papert archives at DailyPapert.com. Learn more about Gary here.