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A BSTRACTIn this paper, the authors argue that in order to create a curriculum of the future, we need to re-evaluate at least four key assum ptions about teaching and learning that have guided educational decisions in the past. These assumptions are: learning is the result of individual, rather than group, activity; teachers are consum ers, rather than generators, of theory; assessm ent is concerned with evaluating learning outcomes, rather than learning processes; teaching and learning are primarily cognitive, rather than aesthetic, ethica l or affective, acts. Drawing on recent cross-cultural research, the authors use the example of the municipal pre-schools and infant-toddler centres of Reggio Emilia, Italy, to challenge these assumptions and suggest alternative ways for imagining classroom s of the future.

This article shares two research projects in the United States and Australia where children and teachers lead their local communities towards living well in precarious times. Rooted in the image of ‘children as citizens of the now’, the research projects offer innovative pedagogies as a way for children to generate meaningful relationships with community and local places. Specifically, children, families, teachers and researchers bring questions and curiosities from their everyday lives that activate teaching and learning with and from the world through the concepts of slowing down, noticing and engaging with multiple perspectives.

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