The design of the school is in four stages, stage one is the BER template design. This consists of six general purpose classes and a library. (see below)
Purposeful Spaces
The design of the school will include 'purposeful learning spaces' that are conducive to educational 'flow'. Educational spaces are often categorised as 'open plan', 'open spaces' or 'flexible learning spaces', more recently I have heard the term 'marquey' spaces.
I prefer the term purposeful spaces as the name simply describes the space in terms of its purpose for any one learning need or period of time. By this I mean operable doors between larger spaces can be opened, closed or at some point in between to support the facilitation of collaborative or individual learning activities. The building, in turn can be manipulated to provide a space for the sole purpose of an activity that requires different acoustics, feel, confidentiality or less distraction.
As important as differentiating the learning needs for our students we must differentiate the design and purpose of building the schools of the future, which brings me to 'flow'.
Our goal in design is to have students use all available resources to support learning. 'Flow' in learning is about accessibility to technology, design, communication tools, multimedia, print materials and resources that support learning in an 'in time' environment.
Mass storage of computers and technologies in labs, books in libraries and maths equipment in cupboards promotes less opportunity for students to determine what they will need to solve a problem.
With resources in shared purposeful spaces, students will 'flow' between technology, print, collaborative spaces, design spaces, production spaces and determine the use of resources in a timely manner for their needs.
An anecdote that had a profound effect on my thinking was to liken the use of computer labs and technologies to housing all the dictionaries in the school in one room and allowing student access to them for only one hour a week.
There are many statistics that suggest that we are preparing our children for a world that will not exist, the following are some adaptations from 'The Future Child'. Written by Headly Beare.
Based on Angelica an 8 year old girl….who is the future. Wherever she chooses to live or work it will certainly be
Multicultural,
Multinational
and multi-faith.
Self programming and artificially intelligent computers will shoulder many of the tasks now being done by humans.
The really prosperous nations in her world will have small populations and few physical resources.
The commodities they trade will be…….
non-material
technical skills
brain power
and know how.
Her richest friends will work with problem solving skills, problem identifying skills and in strategic brokerage.
Her potential employers will insist on :-
Well-developed Interpersonal and co-operative skills
A high level of self-motivation and personal intelligence
Flexibility, adaptability and creativity
And…….
Deeper levels of thinking and problem solving
Resourcefulness and Initiative
Well developed Literacy and Numeracy skills
Community and global awareness
and Technological capabilities
Our challenge is before us...in the 1940's, pioneering Italian teacher and psychologist Loris Malaguzzi founded the Reggio Emilia approach to learning on the premise that children develop through interactions, first with the adults in their lives - parents and teachers- then with their peers, and ultimately with the environment around them. Environment said Malaguzzi, is the third teacher.
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