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Shopfront Schools

Opening context:
Children’s Home, Network of Learning

Conflict

Around the age of 6 or 7, children develop a great need to learn by doing, to make their mark on a community outside the home. If the setting is right, these needs lead children directly to basic skills and habits of learning.

Resolution

Instead of building large public schools for children 7 to 12, set up tiny independent schools, one school at a time. Keep the school small, so that its overheads are low and a teacher–student ration of 1:10 can be maintained. Locate it in the public part of the community, with a shopfront and tree or four rooms.

Closing context:
Pedestrian Street, Self-Governing Workshops and Offices, Accessible Green, Building Complex, Opening to the Street