From teaching places to learning spaces

Albemarle County in the American state of Virginia has seen trans-formative changes in how their schools have been designed over the past few years under the stewardship of Superintendent Pam Moran and guidance of Ira Socol. Here they outline what prompted them to relook at how their school buildings were designed, and some of the initiatives they have undertaken.

Do changes in learning spaces drive changes in pedagogy or do changes in pedagogy drive changes in learning space design? That is one question often asked by visitors to the Albemarle County Public Schools. And the answer is complex. The ecology of an educational ecosystem is full of inputs and interactions, and adaptation is a reaction to a whole experience.

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      string(2420) "overall classroom environment, on facilities such as the floor/carpet, desks and chairs. The effect of, oo much white space on people seems to be under-stimulation, and can lead to restlessness, excessive response and difficulty in concentration.Actively aiding learning through designThe suggestions made in this report are not particularly radical; in fact, some may seem to be simple common sense! But the challenge before now has been finding and providing the evidence to support instinctive ideas about how physical environments and built spaces can affect children’s learning experience. Now we have the evidence, forward-thinking teachers and designers will use it wherever possible when constructing and organising learning spaces, so pupils can enjoy the best possible learning experience and strive to reach their full potential. A 16 per cent increase in progress is significant, yet the measures behind it are simple and cost-effective to put into practice. The design of a classroom should be seen as an active part of facilitating successful learning – thanks to HEAD, now it can.The full research report, Clever Classrooms: Summary report of the HEAD Project (Holistic Evidence and Design), can be downloaded at www.salford.ac.uk/cleverclassrooms. Hannah SharronReferences1. Barrett, P., Zhang, Y., Davies, F. and Barrett, L. (2015) Clever Classrooms: Summary report of the HEAD Project (Holistic Evidence and Design). University of Salford. Available at: www.salford.ac.uk/cleverclassrooms/1503-Salford-Uni-Report-DIGITAL.pdf [Accessed 19/05/2015].2. McMillan, D. (1997). Classroom spaces and learning places: How to arrange your room for maximum learning. Carthage, IL: Teaching & Learning Company, Lorenz Corporation.3. DeVries R. and Zan, B. (1994). Moral classrooms, moral children: Creating a constructivist atmosphere in early education (Early Childhood Education). New York, NY: Teachers’ College Press.4. Anon. (2013). Coloring the classroom. School Planning & Management. [online] Available at: webspm.com/Articles/2013/12/01/Coloring-the-Classroom.aspx?Page=1 [Accessed 19/05/2015].5. Dinsmore, K. (n.d.) The best paint color for classroom walls. eHow [online] Available at: www.ehow.com/way_6167416_paint-color-classroom-walls.html [Accessed 19/05/2015]."
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Innovative School Design

Clever classrooms

8 Jul 2015

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      string(5493) "‘landmarks’ will help children find their wayaround the school.Stimulating the mindStimulation – in the form of visual complexity and colour – accounts for the final 25 percent of an effective physical learning space.It has been suggested that diversity and novelty in the design and decorationof a learning space introduce visual complexity, which, in turn, increases stimulation.But how much is too much? Unfortunately, there is no current consensus amongresearchers whether complex visual stimulation in classrooms distracts or engages.The HEAD Project research, however, suggests that complexity is curvilinear,where both too high and too low levels of visual complexity have a negative impacton learning, and intermediate levels of complexity – in other words, a balance – makefor optimum learning conditions. Thus, classroom displays should be lively, but well-organised and thoughtfully designed in order to capture pupils’ attention withoutnegatively impacting learning. 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Carthage,IL: Teaching & Learning Company, Lorenz Corporation.3. DeVries R. and Zan, B. (1994). Moral classrooms, moral children: Creating a constructivist atmosphere in early education(Early Childhood Education). New York, NY: Teachers’ College Press.4. Anon. (2013). Coloring the classroom. School Planning & Management. [online] Available at: webspm.com/Articles/2013/12/01/Coloring-the-Classroom.aspx?Page=1 [Accessed 19/05/2015].5. Dinsmore, K. (n.d.) The best paint color for classroom walls. eHow [online] Available at: www.ehow.com/way_6167416_paint-color-classroom-walls.html [Accessed 19/05/2015].Knowledge trails1. Design for everyone – The shift towards personalised learning will need a shift towards personal-ised school design. Michál Cohen explains how her firm of architects has risen to the challenge.library.teachingtimes.com/articles/design-for-everyone2. Building for wellbeing – John Waldron explores the ways some primary schools have, despiterestricted budgets, managed to build classrooms and facilities that positively affect studentwellbeing.library.teachingtimes.com/articles/building-for-wellbeingmuch or too bright a colour can cause over-stimulation, while too little causes just theopposite, creating feelings of restlessness and making it difficult to concentrate.The ideal design for a classroom is light colour walls with a bright feature wall,which stimulates but doesn’t overload children while they learn. On this backdrop,teachers can then add further elements of colour through classroom furniture andfittings, such as blinds, chairs or desks.In terms of colour selection, splashes of red and orange draw pupils’ attention, whilehints of yellow can provoke liveliness, energy and excitement. 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Leadership

A blueprint for a better classroom

17 Jun 2015

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      string(5719) "Demographic changes have led to a serious shortfall in school places across the UK.  Government figures published in 2014 projected that, by 2023, there will be a total of 8,022,000 pupils in England’s schools – up from 7,143,000 in the current academic year and an increase of 880,000 pupils.The rise in birth rates, the numbers of people moving to cities such as London, Leeds and Bristol, and the level of new housing, have significantly increased the pressure on education provision. 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ECO Friendly Design

Is off-site construction the answer to the school places crisis?

8 Jul 2015

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      string(6060) "These two-year student groupings also enable the school to provide support and extension to children all within in a family-group setting.Whānau Ata was the first Māori language unit established in Central Auckland. Learners in Whānau Ata are delivered their curriculum through the context of Māori culture, history and the Māori language, Te Reo Māori. Their building is distinctive and stands separate from the other buildings, but its location is significant within the heart and central area of the campus, reflecting the unique but important status of its students within the school. The buildings are double height, which is to reflect a city landscape. They have open upper floor decks to ensure the connections between indoor and outdoor learning are always a part of the students’ learning experience. The most recent building, which currently houses Whānau Puna (Y3-4) and Whānau Wai (Y5-6) learning zones, has two floors, which have two areas that are mirrored in layout.  Each side includes a large and medium group learning area, two quiet rooms, an outdoor learning space, a ‘maker space’ that includes a ‘wet’ and ‘cook’ area, a cave or treehouse and a staircase that connects the two floors. Although the school has long had a belief in a learner-centred, project and inquiry-based curriculum, organising learning through collaborative inquiry for groups of 90 learners needs more sophisticated attention to planning. These large spaces struggle in all sorts of ways if the only way of creating different learning zones is achieved just through furniture and equipment. At the edges of the main large learning spaces that facilitate the more fixed learning experiences that are required for this approach, the smaller areas or quiet rooms offer harbour spaces for the students. The quiet spaces, ‘maker space’ areas, wet and creative spaces, food technology or family domestic spaces have a variety of uses. The larger spaces allow for reconfigurable learning areas that should, and must, be adapted through the school day for adaptable and flexible activity.The approach in these learning zones provides a variety of spaces for learners to have appropriate choices of where and when to learn. Teaching teams support and facilitate the organisation and pattern of learning. A range of teacher-led and learner-led inquiries is in evidence as one moves through these new spaces. In addition, throughout the area, ICT is fully integrated as part of the learning and teaching strategy. There are many ways and places that students can connect and engage with technology, ensuring that the learning is personal and can take place in the spaces that students choose.In addition to the practicalities associated with curriculum-based learning, the design of these learning zones encourages the learners to move around the building in different ways. It allows them to climb, crawl and connect across areas. The thinking behind the strong vision of the links between pedagogy and space is the relationship between play, physical movement and learning. The school believes that the opportunities for physical exercise and the way that the learners will be able to use the spaces will encourage increased motivation, engagement, creativity and collaboration around their learning. Every space is a learning space and the central internal stairs that connect the learning zones creates spaces for learners to choose where to learn. Learners can have fun while learning by choosing to use the slide from the first to the ground floor as an alternative to the stairs!Times are changingIn addition to the positive feedback Principal Jenkins and Freemans Bay School received from their Board, the parents, students and community at large, the radical redesign of the school reflects a profound change that is occurring at the national level. The New Zealand Government has been at the forefront of this approach to learning and teaching over recent years through its policy strategy on Innovative Learning Environments.“We ultimately wanted to achieve a school that encourages the learner’s exploration, enquiry and creativity as much as we could through an architecture that inspires learning.”  Richard Naish, Executive Director, RTA StudioBeginning in 2010, the government began talking about bringing in ‘the learning revolution’. As part of this strategy, it has focused on the important role that flexible learning spaces need to play within mainstream education and has examined how the design of spaces can influence student achievement. It has produced a number of reports and fact sheets that can be found on the Ministry’s web site:  www.education.gov.nz/flexible-learning-spaces.This strategy moves away from a ‘one size fits all’ approach and now looks to support schools to create learning spaces that are ready for today and can evolve for learning in years to come. They are, in fact, designing for the future, not rebuilding the past, recognising that education needs to keep pace with the world for which we are preparing young people. Their research on “How the design of spaces can help student achievement”, makes a major contribution to learning-led design in New Zealand and at an International Level.The five-year olds who start school this year will be graduating around 2035. We need to think about what sort of spaces they will be working and studying in and join the dots between education space, curriculum design and developing attributes needed for their future world.”  Sandra"
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Innovative School Design

Engage Empower Enrich

3 Oct 2018