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Design+ Designing future schools

The trend for differentiated learning environments Table 1. Summary of design concepts and considerations
within a school continues in different ways today. Unlike
the rapid rise and fall of open-plan spaces in the middle Design concept Design considerations
of the 20 century, it may be that the current trend for Context, culture, • Features that afford sensory, movement, and
th
flexible and multi-formed environments is based less on and place introspective experiences to create immersive
environments
revolutionary zeal and more on the dual drivers of the • Expressive response to the local landscape,
preparation for participation in the future economy and including palette
responding to possibilities of new technology. 15 • Acknowledgment of First Nations stories and
connections to context
3. Education concepts and design • Access to outdoor natural spaces if possible
considerations Community • A coherent and integrated range of diverse
ecosystem teaching and learning spaces that allows student
Table 1 outlines a summary of the design concepts and participation in different ways
considerations outlined in this section of the paper. • Visibility of practice within the school and to the
local community
3.1. Context, culture, and place • Spaces that accommodate multi-disciplinary
projects, including the arts, design thinking, and
There is a known relationship between engagement, entrepreneurial projects
learning, and well-being and the physical, social, and • Technology laboratories with immersive
cultural environment. This relationship has been projection system and interactive displays
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theorized using situated cognition, which spans social, Personalized • Digital network infrastructure including storage
psychological, and neurological perspectives of learning. experience and use of personal student devices and access to
a learning management system
This shows the multiple influences on teaching and • Data laboratories for monitoring of student
learning, in particular how contextual experiences and engagement, well-being, and learning
interactions shape educational experiences. While there • Consideration of different sensory environments
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is an assumed relationship between the environmental within the ecosystem
context and learning, this is less definitive in practice. • Safe spaces for group work teams that are visible
and supervised
Greeno, for example, asserts that as people interpret • Escape spaces, e.g., caves, treehouses
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and interact contextually while engaging in activities, a • Multi-media studios to support multi-modal
“problematic” (transient, temporary, uncertain) space representation and communication
is created. This implies a dynamic and ongoing process Flexibility • Core use of modular spaces that can be expanded
or enclosed
of contextual affordances, through which teachers and • Furniture with different configurations for
students perceive, and intentionally interact and rework, individual or small group work
as they are relevant to specific education processes. For • Spaces that accommodate different teacher-to-
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example, an open-plan classroom may afford collaborative student ratios
and constructivist learning, but the actual use of these • Consideration of student transition and
physical prompts and possibilities (including furniture and movement for minimal disruption and dislocation
educational resources present as well as the built-in aspects Student agency • Spaces where students can shape their own
learning environment
of an open environment) will depend on the teacher and • Spatial features and furniture that support student
students understanding of what is required to complete a decision-making and action in relation to space
learning task. codesign, configuration, and construction
• Maker spaces, including building materials and
For designers, a willingness to respond to context writable surfaces
tends to negate a replicable style of building and forces a • Objects or displays that prompt imagination or
focus on quality and an expressive response to the local creative responses
and immediate landscape and culture. It is a reaction
to the conditions of the site and the likely encounters Place as a concept draws on geographic perspectives,
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between users – teachers and students. A further layer to hinged to being in a physical space over time to develop
be considered is the indigenous or First Nations stories and a depth of understanding, value, and ownership. This has
connections to context including their understanding of also been theorized in psychology as grounded cognition,
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teaching and learning. with the argument that cognition is underpinned by
Place-based learning is one example of an education modal simulations, bodily states, and situated action. Both
model where the learning experience is intentionally perspectives include the importance of the senses (vision,
grounded in the features and culture of a specific location. smell, and hearing), movement (activity, manipulation,
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Volume 1 Issue 1 (2024) 3 doi: 10.36922/dp.4131