Responsibility comes from a sense of belonging

The reason we insist on children taking part in deciding, organising and implementing a school’s day-to-day processes is that we believe that children do not come to school to be taught or be ‘worked upon’ by adults – the teachers. A child’s place in the school is not that of an observer or a receptor, but of an active participant. This participation can only go smoothly if they have a voice and a platform to present their needs. This platform and the amount of agency granted to children has always varied across schools. For example, in the school attended by Tetsuko Kuroyanagi (or Totto-chan) i , we know that the Headmaster was responsible for setting up the rules but did so in a way that it assured complete freedom for children to be themselves within the school space.