Making School with Children: Engaging Learners to Think Critically

Making School with Children: Engaging Learners to Think Critically envisions a hopeful future where communities unite to support one another and create a better world. Inspired by Comber's (2016) reminder that young people should learn to work for justice from the outset of schooling, this book showcases a whole-school response. Readers will explore stories from K-6 classrooms, where students and teachers collaborated across grade levels to build critical literacy through civic-minded social action projects, driven by the children's inquiry questions, interests, and passions. Making School with Children reflects Vasquez's (1994, 2014) belief that learners thrive when their education is relevant to their lives. By centering children's experiences, the book aims to foster what Routman (2023) describes as a "joyful culture of trusting relationships, respect, and celebration of learners' strengths." This approach not only enhances curriculum but also nurtures a dynamic relationship with the world, promoting change, progress, and the creation of new ideas. The book is divided into two sections. The first section, comprising seven chapters, details the work done in each grade from kindergarten to sixth grade to negotiate civic-minded literacy learning that transcends mandated curricula. It concludes with lessons learned and their implications for other educational settings. The second section offers a collection of resources, including recommended children's books, teacher resources, teaching tips, and lesson plans, to support similar work in the readers' own settings.