So, you are getting ready to rethink what your classrooms of your school could become…
There are a number of ways to approach this, ranging from just replacing what is currently present with better furniture to going through a design process that intimately links spatial design with expectations for the teaching and learning experience that your school offers, or will offer.
The first approach is an example of “updating your now.” The second - a unique opportunity to re-craft the school experience.
The first approach requires making a phone called to your preferred vendor, or perhaps using a state buy-program (if you are in the US) to get better chairs and desks. Easy. Keep on doing what you are doing. Perhaps that’s appropriate or all that you think that you can do, or need to do.
The second approach requires a community-inclusive design approach that clearly identifies expectations for a plausible future and a new way forward for teaching and learning.
But here is an interesting consideration - from my friend Darren Draper, who is the Director of Innovative Learning at Alpine School District in Utah - who posted this question on Twitter:
It’s a thoughtful question.
My response: it’s tempting to go ahead and improve a space which can be done easily enough and with enough intent to create a fairly capable space. In the cases that I am familiar with that have proceeded in this fashion, that has been done with minimal teacher and student input. Perhaps there is a “furniture fair” in the school’s gymnasium that is scheduled where teachers (and perhaps students, but not always) get to sit in the furniture and choose what they like. Preferences are noted, the furniture is ordered, installed and bingo, a new learning space. In almost all of the cases I know of, professional development on how to use space is not offered, even if there are some expectations that the change will improve the experience the school offers.
Such an effort guarantees very little other than students will be more comfortable in class. It is unlikely that this option will result in any significant change in experience. Again, change might not be a goal so this might work for you.
But if you are indeed intent on improving and innovating around what happens at school, a much more effective option is to clearly identify what the desired teaching and learning experience is that the school wants to provide. You would be surprised at the number of schools that cannot provide a clear description of this. When I ask, I get the mission and vision statement (generally not nuanced enough to provide direction for spatial design) or a curriculum guide. Developing a clear understanding of the desired experience can be accomplished through a design approach that creates an educational framework that can be used to pivot to a spatial response that enables the experience to manifest .
Smart schools will then use this framework to a develop pilot program which tests a range of prototype spatial designs. Please notice that I did not say “test furniture.” Effective learning space change focuses on testing a composite design(s) that blends furniture, finishes, power, lighting, flooring, and technology (and potentially other things) together to create a new classroom reality. Doing so enables you to understand the nuances of the design and find out the really good stuff (and the things that don’t make sense for your teachers and kids), and allows you to test a new array of pedagogical approaches that a new space can support that in turn supports the desired experience. My recommendation: focus on a learning space pilot program and not a furniture pilot program.
An important note: piloting is essential when you consider that a contemporary refresh of a typical classroom with quality elements most likely begins at about $20K. And…you most likely won’t be doing another refresh for 25-30 years, so its appropriate to do your due diligence here. I’ve seen entire school districts make the choice to refurnish at scale (or furnish a new building) without any pilot testing. That amounts to malpractice in my mind.
So, a truthful answer to Darren’s question is neither. In my opinion, identifying the teaching and learning experience that is desired comes first - and this directs not only space design but the pedagogical approaches required to create the teaching and learning experience - which can then be tested together in a newly designed space.
My thanks to Darren for a great question.