School Without Walls, in partnership with the egg theatre, creates an opportunity for educators to think about teaching and learning differently – to inspire learning everywhere, beyond the school walls. Children and young people are engaged in meaningful, creative enquiries in real life contexts, in residence in cultural centres and with the city as a campus for warning. This environment of enquiry transforms learning for both teachers and children. The approach is underpinned by a clear set of principles developed with House of Imagination: essentially this process involves inspiration, immersion and invention, to encourage enquiring minds, creative thinking and critical reflection. Developing a high quality, creative and inclusive pedagogy is key to the success of the work in embedding creative and reflective practice in schools and settings.
‘A School Without Walls residency is the teachers saying I WANT TO DO THIS ADVENTURE.’ Lucy, artist
School Without Walls began in 2010 as a collaboration between the egg theatre, 5x5x5=creativity and St Andrew’s Primary School, Bath, inspired by a school residency at the Southbank Centre, London. School Without Walls is an enquiry based approach to learning, placing the arts at the heart of the curriculum. Educators, artists and cultural centres work together to co-design learning alongside children, with adults observing, listening, documenting and being responsive to children’s ideas. The underlying belief is that if children are invited to follow their fascinations, ‘as authors and inventors, their motivation and interests explode.‘ Loris Malaguzzi, Reggio Emilia 1992.
