Shared Decision-Making Processes in a Contemporary Urban Art Project and Its Impact on Children

Abstract

I will present an example of a shared decision-making process between adults and children: a case study of an intergenerational project built collaboratively between a group of artists, teachers, their current and former students, their families and the inhabitants of a pedestrian square in Lisbon's city centre.

The project began as weekly meetings that took place in the ruins of an abandoned house that only had walls and a cemented floor. The participants had to climb up the wall to enter it. Eventually, together they decided to renovate the ruins, paint them, garden in them and to research what had happened to that building. They began a newsletter with photos, drawings and texts that was compiled into a book, which was published and released in a public event.

The results were obtained by the triangulation of participatory observation data, interviews with the children and adults, written and filmed records. I will show how the project stimulated a learning process that was collective and active for all participants. As a consequence of the use of child-centred practice, the children saw their collaboration in the structuring of the meetings as a moment when the traditional school hierarchy was minimised and they felt their knowledge valued, with impact in their school performance.

Citation

Louçã, J.C. (2023), "Shared Decision-Making Processes in a Contemporary Urban Art Project and Its Impact on Children", Frankel, S. (Ed.) Establishing Child Centred Practice in a Changing World, Part B (Emerald Studies in Child Centred Practice), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 177-196. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-80455-940-620231012