Keeper Group visits Raiz
Escola Raiz
Keeper Group: How does the teaching-learning process work at Raiz?
Raiz (Margarida Rodrigues): Each child is different and has different thought construction processes, so those differences help complement the knowledge construction process.
Keeper Group: And how does that happen?
Raiz (Margarida Rodrigues):Let’s imagine you have an art station with straws, ping-pong balls, and other items, and the teacher says they will create a game. So, students start planning, then they create the game and its rules so they can play it. The teacher intervenes and supports and tells them rules have to be made in a way that other people understand them. The teacher helps them understand how to create logical rules so they’re more intelligible to others.
They start with the content, then the type of introduction, then the way the text is written, then another group of children comes to switch with them and try the game, so they know if their instructions are enough and logical for the game they created. This whole process they created will have an even more systematic foundation about what that type of text is, why we need it, and how it may be useful. But they’re going into it with a different motivation because they’ve had the opportunity to experiment and understand what works and what doesn’t. Any activity we do has this part of active learning where children understand.
Grupo Keeper: How is didactic material used?
Raiz (Margarida Rodrigues):In an education like ours, in a country where we must follow a curriculum that is still constructed in a very excessive way, we also have a moment to consider the knowledge learned. We use school textbooks – as any other school does – we don’t impose great demands regarding the type of school textbook, and our children build their own considerations of the textbook. Teachers provide brief introductions in small groups or as a whole group, so they can move further, but this is an ongoing construction process. They’re interested in knowing more about their project so it has better results and so others may understand it. As you can see, it is an ongoing construction process.