School Lab is a design research project and an interactive installation.
It investigates ways everyday school objects, rituals and settings shape students’ experience of school. The point for this look into student experience is threefold:
- to surface less explored ways of thinking about what makes school “school” for students
- to function as a fresh way to speculate about school change and improvement
- to support the capacity of students and youth organizers to imagine the kinds of schools they want, even as they engage in struggles to keep the schools they need
School Lab is a partnership with students, youth organizing and education justice organizations.
SCHOOL LAB @ Free Minds Free People, Chicago 2013 ((IMAGE BELOW))
What does it take to reimagine education? Already youth organizing groups across the country are working to make schools better places and more conducive learning environments. They are engaged in fighting against school closings and punitive discipline policies, while fighting for cultural, civic and sexual health curricula, for healthy lunches, student-led teacher evaluations, etc. School Lab brings an imaginative capacity to the wealth of experience that these students and organizations have in organizing and youth-led advocacy and gives them the opportunity to question the very tenants that traditional schools operate within--the school building, the school day, the classroom, even the chairs! School Lab @ Free Minds Free People is one example of how we gave participants the opportunity to question and reimagine how schools could work in their communities...
