September 20 is World Children's Day. This year's theme is »Children's rights – building blocks for democracy!« Democracy means participation. But how often do children actually have a say when it comes to the spaces where they spend many hours every day?
Schools have long been more than just places of learning: they are places of life. Places for community, development, safety, play, and retreat. Nevertheless, children have rarely had a say in how schools are designed – both in terms of space and content. Educational sociologist Aladin El-Mafaalani sums it up: »Children are not heard and they are easily overlooked, simply because there are so few of them.«
But schools in particular are a visible expression of social diversity. This is where it is decided whether participation is successful, whether diversity is lived and whether needs are taken seriously. That is why we specifically promote the participation of children in our Performance Phase 10: We engage in dialogue with students at the schools we build, listen to them and take their feedback seriously – so that their voices are incorporated into the next generation of schools.
Children's rights are not an abstract demand. In concrete terms, they mean listening, taking children seriously, and understanding them as co-creators of their living environment. Only in this way can their perspectives shape schools – and thus our society of tomorrow.
In dialogue with students at our school buildings The right to retreat places