A curious plan: managing on the twelfth

Patricia Clifford and Sharon Friesen are team teachers in an open-area classroom at University Elementary School in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. In this article, they capture their process of creating, with their students, a curriculum that takes its life from the interests and varied experiences of their classroom community. Using excerpts from their teaching journals, the authors recount their work with a classroom of six- and seven-year-olds, in which they continually question, challenge, and ultimately change fundamental assumptions about the education of young children. Through the voices and stories of these authors and their students, we witness the rich life of a classroom where teachers and children are passionate and vibrant learners.