“We Want A School!” – a book illustrating how children define the learning spaces they truly want & need.
“We Want a School,” written and illustrated by Enrico Giori and the learners of Grade 5B of the Caracciolo Elementary School Milan, explores from the child’s perspective, how learning opportunities are all around us. Creativity has often been thought to be taught out of us; with a familiar playfulness of what learning was like for many of us in our school settings, Enrico offers a broader look and kind reminder to where and how learning truly takes place.
A park, a market, the floor; this short story brings to light that learning does not only happen with the school walls we often think of as the keeper of the learning. Learning happens all around us, all we have to do is think creatively enough to explore the opportunities that are all around us.
Most importantly, learning is not always about place, as much of those in the design fields focus here. The open-ended questions, prompts us to be curious and uncover and craft an answer for ourselves, is also an active component in the learning experience.
The strong closing message that all of us that are connected to the learning landscape is a simple and clear reminder of how to stay connected to our true user of the space: “Children know what they need, it may be a challenge, but trust us to lead.”
Author Enrico Giori is an Italian architectural designer, graduating from RISD and now practicing at A4E – Architecture for Education in Pasadena, California.
Enrico’s book, “We Want a School,” is free to everyone.
Flip through it here: https://issuu.com/enricogiori/docs/wewantaschool
Watch the read outloud version: