Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/recognizing-school-as-a-place-of-learning-for-all-from-infancy-through-graduate-school/5026234/
*Photos can be found in the pdf version of this article.
Ruth and Arthur, ages 11 and 12 months old, visit the studio space for the first time. There, they encounter a beautiful landscape of reclaimed materials, collected by families and community members. The backdrop for the materials is a projected video of fish swimming, animals with which the children are quite familiar, as there are fish living in their classroom located just down the hall.
In the studio, the infants closely observe, touch, and mouth the materials. Their strong desire to learn is evident. They shake the materials, tap them on the floor, place some inside of others, carefully calculating size and scale. They are experimenting with the physical characteristics of tangible materials—such as plastic, paper, and metal—but also those of intangible materials—light, projection, and shadow. Ruth finds a water pitcher that she lifts to her mouth and pretends to drink. She giggles, as if she sees humor in her interpretation that the pitcher could serve as a large drinking cup.
Ruth and Arthur observe each other, already familiar and trusting of one another. They examine how the other is approaching the space and the materials and, at times, integrate the approach of ...