Children as Design Visionaries, Learners, and Socio-Political Wayfinders: Mapping the Layers, Hierarchies, and Rhythms of a School Community

Despite the seemingly intractable problems of public schooling, we (as researchers and dreamers) remain encouraged by the persistent efforts to reconfigure and reimagine the sociopolitical landscape of schools. We begin this essay by recognizing the work of individuals bravely and imperfectly expanding notions of what schools could and should be. We stand in solidarity with the innovators sowing, designing, and reaching toward more just social futures, dreaming of schools for children that are not so distant from the paradise Butler (2001) describes (Figure 1). This liberatory dreamwork coincides with long histories of communal ingenuity (Vossoughi et al., 2016), resistance against normative models of schooling, and practical efforts to enact humanizing education while facing diminished resources and opposition on all fronts (e.g., King, 2006; Rickford, 2016; Tejeda et al., 2003). It is good, worthy work that we hope to contribute to in our own research and practice while asking the important questions: Are the children alright? What can they teach us about designing transformative schools