Our early work revealed a number of themes that are important to children about where they
live. These include, for example, personal concerns such as health, family, and friends, and the
perception of safety or danger posed by people, roads, or vandalism. It was striking to the
adults how important the quality of their local environment was to the children.
Most of the children already moved around the community more independently of their
parents and wider families. They had detailed knowledge of their local community and could
operate safely and successfully in it. Their knowledge of their community however, and how
they used it were very different from that of adults, (e.g., their knowledge of the recreation
areas, who used them, and how safe they were). This knowledge was gained through
exploration and play, exchanges with peers and families through stories, and by renewed
contact with each other, with older children, with adults, and with the community. Despite this
detailed knowledge, the children felt they had limited access to the community and particularly
to the places dedicated for the recreational use of young people, and that there were not
enough appropriate places for them to go. They felt that the community serves younger and
older children and adults more effectively than it does their age group. The children also
perceived a number of barriers that prevent them from making the most of their local knowledge
and contributing to local improvement, for example, their lack of knowledge about local
community forums and decision making processes and lack of access to decision making
forums.
In short, there is a gap between what children know about and want for their local
environment, and the extent to which they are able to take action to achieve this. The children
had a strong desire to be involved in local improvements. They were concerned, for example,
about environmental quality, and they wanted to see more wildlife habitats. They felt that school
could support their involvement, but that the gap between their own knowledge and that favored
by the school works against this happening.
There is also a gap between children's own local knowledge and the knowledge favored
by the school through its curriculum and teaching methods. Indeed, it seems that children's
local knowledge is mostly unknown by schoolteachers and curriculum developers—and hence
not used.
An Environment Curriculum Council (ECC) evolved from the research team and was
chaired by a girl and a boy elected by members of the team. The goals were to reduce the gap
between children's own knowledge and that taught in school, and to break down the barriers to
children's involvement in the community. The E C C focused on ways of bringing project findings
into the life and curriculum of the school by exploring:
• How children's local knowledge can be used in the school.
• How children can become involved in the community, possibly leading to action.
• How the research process can be integrated into school life in order to sustain a
concern for children's local community and environmental perspectives.
A significant outcome of the project was a Children's Conference that gave all the
children in the year cohort opportunities to reflect on their school and local community
experience and ask questions of a panel including a police officer, the local authority parks
committee member, and the head teacher.
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