What happened?

Listening to Learn explored the following questions

• What impact different art forms have on children’s learning and engagement? Do some art forms work better than others with children of different ages?
• How can children in a multilingual community support the learning of younger children?
• Is there a role for child-to-child facilitation in formal learning environments, especially in schools?
• How can children be enabled to become aware of the different ways they learn so they become more active learners?
• How can developers and architects be encouraged to give value to children’s views and opinions, in particular in an area undergoing a major physical transformation?

Listening to Learn investigated a wide range of models of consulting with children and explored the challenges and opportunities of each model. It succeeded in developing activities that enabled the views of the majority of children at one primary school to be heard and understood by some of the key professionals responsible for the regeneration of their local area.

The process developed the children’s skills in a range of art forms in order that they could express themselves, and this led to an understanding, by them, of the value and potential of different art forms to communicate messages. The use of art as a communication tool led to high levels of engagement and stimulated the children’s sense of being valued and recognised for their abilities and achievements.

The project had an impact on the developer’s view of the abilities of children, and the value of their contributions. It enabled a deeper understanding of the benefits of listening to children’s views. Through a mini consultancy project, it also succeeded in enabling two local authority officers to enter into an extended and genuine dialogue with some of the children and develop a shared learning experience where the ideas raised and explored could impact on future plans.

Listening to Learn also explored child-to-child facilitation and the use of other languages as well as English. The mentoring approach enabled the project to involve a larger number of children across the school to engage with the project and had a profound impact on some of the older children involved in mentoring younger children. The majority of the younger children enjoyed working with their older peers, who they saw as being kind and helpful. The use of other languages needed direct encouragement before they were used but then clearly added value to a small number of the children. Both these areas need a longer term project in order to fully develop the most effective approach.

Visit our “What’s Next?” page to read about the project’s legacy

Image of people participating in our project