Disruptive Designs

Changing classrooms to learning landscapes – Rosan Bosch Studio’s work can be found the world over. What is it that makes their designs so recognisable?

Few of us would disagree that the architecture of educational institutions needs disruption. Traditional school buildings have inflexible floor plans of uninspiring classrooms. The buildings provide identity and a sense of belonging to the users but do very little for the learning process. The spaces do not support contemporary pedagogical methods and the use of technology.

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      string(349) "... transferred into the shift toward the shared, multi-class environments we see today. In the last edition of Learning Spaces (4.1) we saw the disruptive designs of the Rosan Bosch Studio, designing ‘imaginable, enjoyable and unique spaces’. In the interview Rosan explained, “we design spatial sequences, put on layers ..."
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      string(486) "For the last 15 years, Anne Knock has had the opportunity to visit many schools in different parts of the world. Her professional focus is the future of learning and learning environments: she helps facilitate a rethink of the design of schools, and in so doing reconsider the practice of teaching, leading a 21st century mindset in education. Here she explains how she feels that shift will push us towards team teaching and what that means for the learning spaces in which they teach."
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      string(5299) "To flick through the pages of this magazine or visit the numerous ‘best schools of the future’ websites, one thing is clear, we aren’t seeing photographs of classroom boxes along corridors, with desks in rows and diligent children facing their teacher who is positioned at the front, as exemplars of forward-thinking education. Instead, the images of learning environments today are more likely to resemble a modern workplace, a home or a social hub, which may be indoors, outdoors, or a combination of both. Accompanying this shift, are the changes required in thinking and practice of educators. When I first started teaching, I was thrust in front of a group of enthusiastic six-year olds, there were some wonderful colleagues in nearby classrooms, but on the whole, I was trying to work it out on my own. I’m sure those children were asked by relatives and friends, “Who is your teacher? Is she nice?” I was a very significant individual in their young lives. I was the singular point of reference, the keeper of all knowledge and the manager of day-to-day business for 25 children for an entire school year. It was a big responsibility for a young teacher in her twenties.The thinking that goes along with the solo-teacher cannot be automatically transferred into the shift toward the shared, multi-class environments we see today. In the last edition of Learning Spaces (4.1) we saw the disruptive designs of the Rosan Bosch Studio, designing ‘imaginable, enjoyable and unique spaces’. In the interview Rosan explained, “we design spatial sequences, put on layers and end up with a school truly respecting learners’ diversity and individuality… [the process] never ends up with a square room like a classroom”. So how does a profession that has been a predominantly solo experience in a square room, shift to such an innovative learning environment?The short answer is work as a team, the long answer is much more complex because humans are complex, and change is complex. A study by Saltmarsh et. al. (2015) about teaching practices in shared learning environments concluded that “spatially responsive pedagogies tend to occur where there is less emphasis on structuring timetables, routines, sound, movement, and other variables, and place more emphasis on teachers and students learning together about how best to make use of space as a learning resource”. We need to start with the people-factor. The buzz word, of course, is collaboration. It is a necessary attribute today. It is the basis for people working together in a productive and respectful way. However, just because we are in a room, around a table with work to do, doesn’t necessarily mean we are collaborating, as an article in Harvard Business Review said, “They were still unable to truly achieve the desired outcome because they confused pleasant, cooperative behaviour with collaboration”  (Askenas, HBR April 2015). Effective collaboration is the essence of professional practice in shared and open learning environments.The title of a book I read recently addresses the elephant in the room, “Collaborating with the enemy: How to work with people you don’t agree with or like or trust” by Adam Kahane. He makes an honest appraisal of collaboration, where “Conventional collaboration looks like a planning meeting… [but] When we are working in complex situations, with diverse others, collaboration cannot and need not be controlled”. I think this gets to the very nature of teachers working in teams in shared learning environments. If each new teacher to the team comes to the collaborative table trying to shoe-horn existing practices into the new scenario, then ‘pleasant, cooperative behaviour’ may (or may not) ensue and perhaps each will retreat to their own corner, literally, in the space and former practices will prevail. I believe the success of these learning environments starts with the thinking and practices of the teaching team. Gaining strong connection and honesty amongst the team members. Kahane calls this ‘stretch collaboration’, which has three parts:1.	Embrace both conflict and connection within and beyond the team2.	Stretch away from clear agreement about the problem, toward experimenting systematically with perspectives and possibilities3.	Stretch away from trying to change other people and be willing to change ourselvesHe says, “Rather than shrink away from complexity we must plunge into it. Often this feels uncomfortable and frightening” Open and shared learning environments are complex. When teachers walk into this situation for the first time it can be ‘uncomfortable and frightening’. But this can also be said about the world our children and young people are heading into. Nevertheless, along with the complexity and discomfort there can be excitement, challenge, exploration, creativity and fun. I have seen first-hand the extremes, of retreating to the corners, or embracing the stretch. The challenge for us is not only designing and building these spaces, and equipping with the latest furniture and technology, but undertaking the hard work with the community to see the dreams we may have for the space and the learning possibilities for students become a reality."
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ECO Friendly Design

A Leap Of Faith

3 Oct 2018

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      string(351) "... an insight into life in the 6th form. Pupils report social benefits ofthe mentoring.Approaches beyond the classroomGuidance from the Department for Education states that disruptive behaviour in pupils can indicate unmet needs.14It suggests that schools consider a multi-agency approach that looks beyond a young person’s educational ..."
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      string(5616) "at school.Ocklynge Junior School: Taking the leadOcklynge Junior School in East Sussex works to engage parents in supporting pupils outside school so theyare mentally healthy and able to engage with their learning in school. The school has a parent support advisorwho provides out-of-school support to pupils and their families with emotional wellbeing issues, and will visitthe family in their home, set goals to work towards and plan a programme of intervention. The parent supportadvisor also runs parenting courses on behaviour management, which cover the causes of challenging behaviourand strategies for managing and reducing it.Peer mentoringPeer mentoring has been found to be an effective and inexpensive approach to supporting the mental health ofpupils, especially those who feel vulnerable and are potentially at risk of problems.32Vol 6.5School Leadership Todaywww.teachingtimes.comLeadingLearningMental healthHardenhuish School: Pairing pupils to raise aspirationsHardenhuish School has a peer mentoring system that involves Year 10 working with Year 12. Pupils are pairedaccording to their subject interest and tend to be of the same sex. They meet at least every half term for aface-to-face discussion which may lead to further informal meetings. The aim of the peer mentors is to raise theaspirations of Year 10 pupils and to give them an insight into life in the 6th form. Pupils report social benefits ofthe mentoring.Approaches beyond the classroomGuidance from the Department for Education states that disruptive behaviour in pupils can indicate unmet needs.14It suggests that schools consider a multi-agency approach that looks beyond a young person’s educational needsto ensure that the single assessment process and an Education, Health and Care Plan, as proposed in the SpecialEducational Needs Green Paper, is carried out.The government paper, No Health Without Mental Health, supports the involvement of partners in defining amore holistic approach to improving the mental health of individuals. It describes, for instance, how The ComptonSchool in North London is very successful at engaging organisations beyond the school to support any students whomight have emotional and mental health needs. The school has strong links with its local CAMHS and two supportprogrammes (Health and Emotional Wellbeing Service and Barnet Secondary Schools CAMHS Project) are provided inschool on alternate weeks for up to six students.The school also buys in a counselling service called Catch 22, employing a counsellor to provide support forstudents who have emotional issues they need to talk through, but which may not be at the stage of requiringCAMHS involvement. The Targeted Youth Service is also used by the school, mainly offering support to Key Stage4 students, some of whom are at risk of becoming NEET. The school works with other local schools to share goodpractice in the management of behaviour and emotional health issues.Oakington Manor Primary: Effective referral systemsOakington Manor Primary School in Wembley uses feedback boxes to allow pupils to share a problemanonymously in the ‘bullying box’ or something good that another pupil did in the ‘praise box’. These aremanaged by the PSCHE (Personal, Social, Citizenship and Health Education) co-ordinator, who may choose tofile some comments and will pass safeguarding concerns on to the relevant staff member to follow-up. Thisanonymous sharing allows teachers to pick up on common worries and problems before they grow into moreserious wellbeing or mental health risks. Reports from the boxes may also lead to referrals to Place2Be or CAMHS,as well as other school-based interventions such as lunchtime nurture clubs.Widden Primary: The rainbow roomWidden Primary School in Gloucester has a ‘rainbow room’ – a small, quiet and calm room where staff can takeindividual children and small groups to get ready for the school day, talk about concerns and worries or to calmdown if something has upset or angered them. All the children are supportive and keen to use it. The school hasseen benefits in terms of attendance, wellbeing and achievement. The new behaviour policy, which teaches thevalues of Friendship, Respect, Excellence and Equality (FREE), has also introduced a FREE room where children canexplore issues related to behaviour with the learning mentor or welfare officer.Ocklynge Junior School: Sessions in the OasisOcklynge Junior school runs an ‘Oasis’ facility for children who have additional emotional needs. The Oasis staffrun a range of sessions for individuals or groups dealing with a wide range of issues including friendships, conflictresolution, social skills, anger management and family break-up. The team also designs specific sessions forindividual needs as and when they arise. Children are referred by teachers or support staff to the Oasis, and thework is managed by the SENCo.33Vol 6.5School Leadership Todaywww.teachingtimes.comLeadingLearningMental healthKnowledge trails1. Addressing mental health concerns – Aseries of practical documents to supportthe audit and development of your school’smental health policy and practice.library.teachingtimes.com/articles/managers-briefcase-mental-health2. How do you feel? – Primary schools thatinvolve pupils in decisions can improvemorale, wellbeing and behaviour and boostexam results. Laura Parker reports.library.teachingtimes.com/articles/how-do-you-feelReferences1. Fazel, M. (2014). Mental health interventions in schoolsin high-income countries. The Lancet Psychiatry, vol. 1(5),pp.377-87.2. Department"
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Leadership

Promoting positive mental health in schools

30 Apr 2015

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      string(418) "... spaces of exclusion anddisconnection.School leadership creates infrastructures for capacity-building, including by connecting homes, workplacesand civic spaces through the school’s networks.School leadership designs pragmatic solutions,problem-solving in specific contexts to co-create newspaces and mobilities.School leadership upholds values, engages criticallywith imposed values and the politics ..."
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      string(5116) "well-resourcedindependent schools in other countries to contributemore to addressing wider educational needs.School leadership of the future will develop schools asnetwork nodes with local and international connections.In this way, the impact of leadership spreads into fourconnected places: own school, own local communities,linked school and the linked school’s local communities.To maximise its potential impact, school leadershipof the future will need to break down the barriersbetween formal and informal learning, and lessenthe disconnections between ongoing or mainstreameducation, and education to respond to the needs ofemergencies and extreme situations.■■■ School leadership reconceptualisedA spatial analysis of school leadership enables thefollowing fundamental aspirations to be proposed.School leadership understands starting points,making discerning and empathetic assessments ofcontexts and obstacles to learning; also strengths,positive identities and potentialities.School leadership involves space-making on at leastthree scales: the leader’s own personal spaces; thespaces within the institution the leader manages; andthe networks of places and organisations with whichthe leader and the school have links. Leaders’ valuesguide how they want to change both their own spacesand how others experience the spaces they occupy.School leadership is cosmopolitan, promoting globalcitizenship, multi-layered affiliations, and respect forand understanding of others’ spaces.School leadership addresses humanitarian needs,using activism to impact on spaces of exclusion anddisconnection.School leadership creates infrastructures for capacity-building, including by connecting homes, workplacesand civic spaces through the school’s networks.School leadership designs pragmatic solutions,problem-solving in specific contexts to co-create newspaces and mobilities.School leadership upholds values, engages criticallywith imposed values and the politics of knowledge,to help transform spaces of prescription into spacesof negotiation.■■■ Moving forward by striking balancesMoving towards practical application of these principlesinvolves striking a series of pragmatic balances betweenshort-term pressures and longer term needs for systemicdevelopment. The following statements describe someof the balances that school leaders may be workingwith.■■■■■■■Policy andpractice13……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………School leaders should aspire to combine knowledgeof global, national and local productive practices inthe most effective combinations. Local conditionsand issues are very important, but the English schoolsystem is currently at risk of being too inward-looking. A more global perspective will bring freshinsights, energies and solutions to local challenges.They need to interact on the basis of a deep understandingof the processes through which professional practiceevolves and spreads. The lateral spread of good practice,and applying ‘what works’ are popular concepts, butare often applied superficially, relying on managerialauthority. Peer-supported school improvement mustadopt a professional rather than managerial model,and, within that, strategies that draw more on humanrelations thinking and less on engineering thinking.School leaders should support worthwhile innovationin appropriate combination with establishedmethods. Space to try out new ways of workingrequires experimentation and acceptance of aheightened level of risk tolerance. On the other handthere is little merit in innovation for its own sake.They should aim to combine addressing short termneeds with nurturing the conditions for longer term‘blue skies’ thinking. Undoubtedly there are needs,which will continue to arise, for urgent and acuteaction, but will be easier, less disruptive, and in theend cheaper, if it is nested inside parallel work toclarify long term educational visions.Finally, a key aspiration of a school leader will beto generate evidence and knowledge for local andnational dissemination. Broadening the generationand use of evidence, especially qualitative as well as■■■■■quantitative, is one of the hallmarks of progressingfrom managerial to more professional leadership anddevelopment of schools and school systems.■■■ Professional engagement – lateral,broad and deepTo engage with these agendas, leadership developmentneeds to include a much stronger ‘lateral’ element,giving practitioners in early leadership positions moreexposure to school-to-school networking both locallyand internationally, and more opportunity to investigate‘big picture’ issues and possibilities.The first is essentially practical: to work with otherson the co-creation of mutually beneficial"
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Professional Development

What next for school leadership development?

4 Jul 2013

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      string(388) "... class sizes, and when aimed at parents of older young children (approximately aged 10 and above).#· Other effective family based interventions were comprehensive, multi-modal designs that focus on changing maladaptive patterns of behaviour or family dysfunction, using cognitive behavioural techniques. such as Multisystemic therapy (MST); Functional Family Therapy (FFT ..."
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Leadership Briefing 6.01(61)"
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      string(5235) "ResourceA REVIEW OF STRATEGIES FOR INTERVENING EARLY TO PREVENT OR REDUCE YOUTH CRIME AND ANTI-SOCIAL BEHAVIOUROriginal DocumentPrevention And Reduction: A Review Of Strategies For Intervening Early To Prevent Or Reduce Youth Crime And Anti-Social Behaviour. This Department for Education review is aimed at providing a comprehensive understanding of the key characteristics of what works in terms of early interventions to prevent or reduce youth crime or anti-social behaviour. By drawing on evidence from international literature the review is able to provide a critical evaluation of youth crime interventions in England.KeywordsYouth crime, anti-social behaviour, interventions, juveniles, risk factors, training, discipline, management strategiesSummaryThis review is aimed at providing a comprehensive understanding of the key characteristics of what works in terms of early interventions to prevent or reduce youth crime or anti-social behaviour. By drawing on evidence from the international literature, primarily the US where the evidence base is especially strong, this review is able to provide a critical evaluation of youth crime interventions in England, where the scientific evidence is less robust.Main Findings:· Four key characteristics were found to be associated with programme effectiveness:· The methods used to evaluate early intervention programmes. Generally this is a forewarning against reliance on poorly designed evaluations which tend to overstate programme effectiveness;· The Intervention type and mode. Interventions that embody ‘therapeutic’ philosophies aimed at nurturing a positive change in young people, and in particular those employing cognitive behavioural techniques, are the most effective overall. Those based on strategies of control or coercion – on surveillance, deterrence, and discipline – are far less effective and in some cases can actually make matters worse;· Quality of programme implementation. This was so important that a less effective but well implemented programme could out-perform a more effective programme that was poorly implemented;· The characteristics of the juveniles being treated. Interventions targeted at individuals already manifesting problematic behaviours or demonstrating many of the risk factors associated with the development of offending behaviour are more effective than universally applied programmes.· There is evidence that programmes which employ a multi-modal design where a broad range of interventions are applied attending to a multitude of different risk factors are more effective. However they only work where there is also a dedicated case worker present to oversee and coordinate programme delivery.· Most of the interventions that have been shown to be effective share most (if not all) of the characteristics identified above.· Among programmes aimed at the individual, one type of programme stood out as effective:· Child skills training which aims to teach children social, emotional, and cognitive competence by addressing appropriate effective problem solving, anger management and emotion language. Best Practice: Child skills training is especially effective when applied to smaller (more manageable) class sizes, employs cognitive behavioural techniques of instruction and is targeted at older and high risk young people.· Within family focused prevention, a range of interventions were found effective for preventing or reducing youth crime and antisocial behaviour. This includes:· Behavioural parent training (BPT) which teaches parents to be consistent in reinforcing helpful behaviour and punishing or ignoring hostile or unco-operative behaviour. Best practice: BPT is more effective in smaller (more manageable) class sizes, and when aimed at parents of older young children (approximately aged 10 and above).#· Other effective family based interventions were comprehensive, multi-modal designs that focus on changing maladaptive patterns of behaviour or family dysfunction, using cognitive behavioural techniques. such as Multisystemic therapy (MST); Functional Family Therapy (FFT); and Multi-Dimensional Treatment Foster Care (MTFC).· Effective school based programmes tend to be those aimed at changing the school environment as opposed to interventions that focus on changing the individual alone. This includes:· The reorganisation of grades or classes to group together high-risk or disruptive pupils for periods of the school day, while teaching them with alternative curriculum material and using cognitive behavioural techniques.· Classroom or instruction management interventions emphasising interactive instructional methods using cognitive behavioural techniques.· School discipline and management strategies, particularly those which draw on teams of staff and members of the local community to change the decision-making process or authority structures of the school in order to enhance its general capacity.· Within the community, both mentoring and after school recreation programmes were identified as promising.ActionNotesAuthorR ChimaDate CreatedJune 2011Enquiries to:raspal.chima@yahoo.co.uk (Authoring Unit)Month / YearPage 1 of 1©Birmingham City Council"
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Leadership

Interventions To Prevent Youth Crime And Anti-Social Behaviour

1 Jun 2011