Humble Beginnings: The Origins of RIE
RIE® (pronounced ‘rye’), or Resources for Infant Educarers, was founded in 1978 by Magda Gerber in Los Angeles, USA. The RIE principles developed for infants and toddlers in a group-care setting can be used with older children, and are not limited to guide only the relationship between educarers (early childhood educators) and children, but also, very importantly, the relationship between parents and their children.
At Sustainable Play we utilise RIE practices every day as we care for children, and are actively trying to better embed RIE principles throughout our preschool rhythm, policies and educators. Our team has benefited from group training by a RIE Associate as well as receiving ongoing coaching in this perspective from our RIE Leader and staff educator Rosie. Our preschool community parents and our educators may already be familiar with ‘RIE’ from the work Magda Gerber herself or from one of Madga Gerber’s most well-known mentees, Janet Lansbury. Lansbury is the author of ‘No Bad Kids: Toddler Discipline Without Shame’ and ‘Elevating Child Care: A Guide to Respectful Parenting’, and hosts a popular podcast, “Unruffled” where she navigates questions from parents through the RIE lens.
At our first group training with RIE Associate Elena Marouchos from New Zealand, team members shared common misconceptions of RIE – that it is too permissive or that it places too much faith in the motor competency of infants and toddlers (our discussion of ‘tummy time’ was an eye-opener!). Marouchos debunked those misinterpretations as she divulged the origins of RIE – a humble orphanage in war-torn Hungary – a circumstance in which vulnerable infants and toddlers would have previously been victims of institutionalisation – likely destined to suffer from developmental delays, neglect and a harsh environment.
To the awe of early childhood researchers worldwide, these children experienced a different outcome at the hands of carers who prioritised their unique relationship with each child, provided them with a developmentally stimulating, nurturing environment, freedom of movement, strategic resources and more. What was the outcome? ‘Institutionalised’ children from this special home flourished, starting a movement that has begun to change the way the world views children and the way in which parents and educators care for them.
Humble Beginnings
Dr. Pikler’s infant group-care model was based on “practices for infant care that were associated with positive developmental outcomes for children by ensuring that each child had a privileged relationship with an adult and experienced quality touch and interactions” (Education Hub). Gerber sums up Dr. Pikler’s philosophy in 3 main points:
- “The infant needs an intimate, stable relationship with one constant person (mother figure).
- This relationship can best be developed during care-giving activities (i.e., bathing, dressing, changing diapers, feeding, etc.). These same activities offer excellent opportunities for teaching cooperation, speech, body image, and mutuality in task oriented experiences. The infant is expected to be an active participant rather than a passive recipient while the child is cared for.
- The infant does not need direct teaching and help to achieve the stages of gross motor and sensory-motor development. They are best learned while the infant is freely exploring and manipulating objects in a safe and carefully designed environment. Spontaneous, self-induced activities which the infant pursues freely, autonomously have an essential value for the child’s physical and mental development. The pleasure in the process of exploration and mastery is self-reinforcing. The infant becomes intrinsically motivated to learn” (MagdaGerber.org).
This approach was revolutionary and radical as the status quo in developed countries was for carers to actively teach their baby motor skills, exercising their bodies with tummy time and putting them in swings and bouncers. Carers were also accustomed by the culture to rush through wearisome nappy changes, to quickly pull clothes over the baby’s head, to vigorously wipe his mouth after meal times, to come up from behind the child with a wipe for her nose before she can duck her head away. How incredulous were those who witnessed the care at The Pikler House! Authors Myriam David and Genevieve Appell visited and described the scene of the carers and the children:
The child is never treated like an object, but as a person who feels, observes, remembers and understands – or will understand, if given the chance.
Nothing is done with haste. Although the nurse is constantly busy, she never gives the impression of being in a hurry and seems to give the child as much time as he needs.
The care is never interrupted. Barring an exceptional situation, the nurse always finishes what she has started with a child and respects his individual rhythm. (David & Appell, 2001, p.39)
These points are key for us to emulate. The authors go on to describe how the Lozcy nurses embody the RIE principle of “child as active participant rather than passive recipient”:
As well, the caregiver establishes an interactive, cooperative tone with the infant.
The caregiver speaks to the child – even the newborn – with the intention to communicate and elicit cooperation with dressing, feeding, and bathing.
Throughout the bodily care of the infant the nurse is attentive to the timing of her gestures of care, cooperating with the infant’s movement. In this way she maintains a trusting stance of the infant’s self-initiated bodily communication, and models responsivity and cooperation (David & Appell, 2001).
David and Appell recognised that the primary goal of care at The Pikler House was “to provide the needed security in their primary relationship (with their appointed nurses) in order to develop the “security to be independent” (Petrie & Owen, 2005, p.62). At Sustainable Play we embody this principle by having a ‘primary educator’ for each child, with whom they form a connection and feel comfortable seeking out in times of need something or during moments of discomfort. Marachous spoke emphatically about this during our group training – when a child feels loved and secure, they play well, they have an air of confidence, conflicts are more likely to roll off them, injuries are less frequent, everything works better. When they are insecure and unsettled, even little things become challenging…for everyone!
The Pikler House’s success in group infant care 24/7 with positive developmental outcomes, has made it a scientific research and training center for decades, since 1960. The setting as a residential nursery provides a “unique opportunity for continuous controlled observation and research” (MagdaGerber.org). The children in the Lozcy house have been studied and research recorded, including a longitudinal study in 1972, supported by the World Health Organization, that assessed Lozcy alumni’s growth into adolescence and adulthood (ages 13-22). They appraised a variety of indicators including: criminal behaviour, substance abuse, incidence of homelessness, unplanned pregnancies, and factors involved in their ability to adapt to family life.
“The results so far established indicate that former boarders of the institute are generally well adapted to society, and do not display the typical conspicuous signs generally considered characteristic of the subsequent development of children reared institutionally in their first years of life” (The Pikler Collection).
The Pikler approach was compelling both by results seen in her present day and beyond. Magda Gerber became Dr. Pikler’s apprentice and close friend, and took the principles from the Pikler method with her to the West when she relocated to California.
RIE is founded
After the 1956 Hungarian revolution, Gerber and her family relocated to California. In 1972, she worked with Dr. Thomas Forrest (with whom she would later co-found RIE), a pediatric neurologist working at Stanford University, on a program that would, “help parents to perceive and accept the child at his own developmental level, and to learn how to understand and respond to his needs, [in order to] prevent problems before they develop, rather than have the difficult job of undoing them later in life” (RIE.org). The two co-founded RIE in 1978 as a non-profit organisation with a mission to assist families and child care professionals. Gerber taught courses through RIE to educators and parents in addition to teaching early childhood development at the University of California, Los Angeles; California State University, Northridge and Pacific Oaks College, Pasadena. Magda Gerber’s work on infant and toddler care, in cohesion with the child-carer relationship, has made her an iconic and influential figure to early childhood researchers, parents and child care professionals worldwide.
The Pikler approach and RIE terms are often are used in tandem, as RIE was born from the influence of Pikler. Gerber states,
“I have felt sometimes like the bridge between Dr. Pikler and American society” (Gerber, 1998, p.189)
We are thankful for the work of both these amazing women in the field of early childhood.
Stay tuned as we break down RIE’s 7 basic principles in subsequent posts!
Sources:
Caro, C. (2012). History. [online] The Pikler Collection. Available at: https://thepiklercollection.weebly.com/history.html.
David, M., & Appell G. (2001). Loczy: An unusual approach to mothering. Budapest, Hungary: Association Pikler-Loczy for Young Child
Gerber, M. (1998). Dear parent: Caring for infants with respect. Los Angeles, CA: Resources for Infant Educarers.
Gerber, M. (2022). Reflections on ‘Loczy’. [online] Magda Gerber Legacy. Available at: https://magdagerber.org/after-birth/reflections-on-loczy/.
Gonzalez-Mena, J., Chahin, E. and Briley, L. (2005). The Pikler Institute: A Unique Approach to Caring for Children | ChildCareExchange.com. [online] Available at: https://www.exchangepress.com/catalog/product/the-pikler-institute-a-unique-approach-to-caring-for-children/5016649/ [Accessed 25 Feb. 2024].
Hargraves, V. (2020). The Pikler/Resources for Infant EducarersTM approach – THE EDUCATION HUB. [online] THE EDUCATION HUB. Available at: https://theeducationhub.org.nz/the-pikler-resources-for-infant-educarers-approach/.
Pikler UK Association. (n.d.). About. [online] Available at: https://pikler.co.uk/about.
Resources for Infant Educarers® -. (2022). Our Founder – Resources for Infant Educarers®. [online] Available at: https://rie.org/our-founder/.
Triulzi, M. (2009). Do the Pikler and RIE methods promote infant-parent attachment? Do the Pikler and RIE methods promote infant-parent attachment? [online] Available at: https://scholarworks.smith.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1523&context=theses.