sense of place
‘You go inside the place . . . and after that your body decides whether to receive it or not.’
Pietro (age 4) / Dialogues with places (Reggio Children, 2008)‘Place means you are somewhere.’
Julia (age 5) / project: The many languages of place-making
‘It’s a heart shape that can fly and every time the Mouse sees it he can jump in. And whenever he jumps in he goes to a different room. And this one can go to another land.’
Edda (age 5) / project: The Mouse Housesense of place / ecologies
exploring the relationships between place and life
discovering patterns and interdependent systems
being and becoming part of the living world
understanding from many perspectives
thinking about ‘more than human’ life forms and stories
developing sensitivities and active care
sense of place / place and story
creating and inhabiting significant places
listening for stories in everyday locations
developing emotional and imaginative sense of place
building a culture of shared narratives and representations
making space for archives, libraries and collections
sense of place / scale
sense of place / at home at school
working with children’s ‘ambitious desires and requests’ (Malaguzzi)
making enough time and space
exploring at macro and micro scales
investigating complexity and cross-connections
building detailed projects over time
making and inhabiting physical spaces
finding ways to be together
recognising individual and collective freedoms
connecting mind, body, place
defining roles for ourselves
feeling that we matter - making an ‘amiable’ school