Learning Spaces: The transformation of educational spaces in Australia for the 21 st century

Learning Spaces: The transformation of educational spaces in Australia for the 21st century An edited journal byClare Newton + Kenn FisherArchitect & Academic Education PlannerThe University of Melbourne Rubida Researchc.newton@unimelb.edu.au To be launched October 29, 2009.

The TAKE series is an annual journal published by the Australian Institute of Architects and edited by each year’s Sisalation Prize winners. In 2008 the Sisalation Prize was won by Clare Newton and Kenn Fisher. Past winners include:TAKE 8 Learning SpacesTAKE 7Housing AustraliaTAKE 6 Beyond Beige- architecture for the elderlyTAKE 2 Housing Indigenous Australians Learning Spaces: The transformation of educational spaces in Australia for the 21st century

SNAPSHOTS OF WHO WE ARE • SNAPSHOTS OF OUR RESEARCH • SNAPSHOTS OF TAKE 8 Learning Spaces: The transformation of educational spaces in Australia for the 21st century

My daughters go to Fitzroy High School. The other day my youngest, in her first year there, said, “I love my school. I love my friends. I love my teachers.” It is not like any other school I know. There are no school bells. They don’t have text books and yet they are effective learners. (It didn’t suit my son.) FITZROY HIGH SCHOOL extension –2009 – McBride Charles Ryan

Australian Research Council 2007-2010 – funded Linkage Project 5 researchers 9 industry partners 2 postgrad students working at the intersection of education and architecture

Australian Research Council 2007-2010 – funded Linkage Project CHIEF INVESTIGATORS: Clare NewtonArchitecturec.newton@unimelb.edu.au Dr Dominique HesSustainable Design d.hes@unimelb.edu.au Dr Sue WilksEducation and curriculum sueew@unimelb.edu.au Dr Kenn FisherEducational planner kenn@rubida.net Prof. Kim DoveyUrban Design kgdovey@unimelb.edu.au

Australian Research Council 2007-2010 – funded Linkage Project Clare NewtonArchitecture c.newton@unimelb.edu.au Dr Kenn FisherEducational planner kenn@rubida.net

Australian Research Council 2007-2010 – funded Linkage Project INDUSTRY PARTNERS: DEECD – Dr Peter Stewart Government Architect Rubida Research – Dr Kenn Fisher Hayball H2o Architects McGauran Giannini Soon McBride Charles Ryan SBE Melbourne Mary Featherston Design

Australian Research Council 2007-2010 – funded Linkage Project POST GRAD STUDENTS: Ben Cleveland Teacher Ken Woodman Architect

We are currently preparing students for jobs that don’t yet exist . . .

using technologies that haven’t yetbeen invented . . .

in order to solve problems we don’t even know are problems yet. From pp Shift Happens by Karl Fisch

Providing facilities for an unknown future is a ‘wicked problem’ * * • A "wicked" problem is one that is not truly understood until you try and come up with a solution. • Why? The problem may be incomplete, contradictory, subject to change, concealed, interactive, insoluble. • Coined 1973 by Horst Rittel and Melvin Webber

http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/000230.html[May 26,2008

We speak different languages… BUILDING FABRIC Assemblies DISPLACEMENT VENTILATION Mixed modes Design and Construct Egress FENESTRATION INTERSTITUAL SPACES Fluid spaces Performance specifications PROCUREMENT METHODS Sprinklered buildings REFLECTED CEILING PLAN THERMAL CHIMNEYS Night purges Value Engineering Action research Authentic Learning Bloom’s TaxonomyCognitive Skills Declarative knowledge constructive alignment CONSTRUCTIVIST PEDAGOGIES Feedback Rubrics Multiple Intelligences Pedagogy REFLECTIVE PRACTICE Scope and sequence

We speak different languages… Action research Authentic Learning Bloom’s TaxonomyCognitive Skills Declarative knowledge constructive alignment CONSTRUCTIVIST PEDAGOGIES Feedback Rubrics Multiple Intelligences Pedagogy REFLECTIVE PRACTICE Scope and sequence

We speak different languages… BUILDING FABRIC Assemblies DISPLACEMENT VENTILATION Mixed modes Design and Construct Egress FENESTRATION INTERSTITUAL SPACES Fluid spaces Performance specifications PROCUREMENT METHODS Sprinklered buildings REFLECTED CEILING PLAN THERMAL CHIMNEYS Night purges Value Engineering

KENN through his PhD research argues that…. • school spaces and places are neither innocent nor neutral. they are an instrument of the political and social • space has an impact on the performance of students and teachers and it both prohibits and establishes order. it commands and locates student bodies within society and determines what is acceptable • as social action, space is a fundamental and all-pervasive source of power • school buildings can formalise relationships and shape the performance desired by authority • societal and institutional power is structured by architecture and architecture itself celebrates and monumentalises the structural networks of power • furthermore, the design of schools emphasises the status of students and teachers in society • Pouler, P. (1994). Disciplinary society and the myth of aesthetic justice. Design Review: Challenging Urban Aesthetic Control. B. Scheer and W. Preiser (Eds.), London, Chapman & Hall.

SNAPSHOTS OF WHO WE ARE • SNAPSHOTS OF OUR RESEARCH • SNAPSHOTS OF TAKE 8 Learning Spaces: The transformation of educational spaces in Australia for the 21st century

Australian Research Council 2007-2010 – funded Linkage Project Future Proofing Schools Australian Research Council 2009-2012 – funded Linkage Project Hybrid Spaces for informal collaboration Australian Research Council 2010--2014 – application stage only

Federal government LINKAGE GRANTS…. … are an effective way for industry to participate in research. Contributions from industry must typically be at least 20 per cent of the total amount sought from the Commonwealth. …help improve industry expertise Grants often support postgraduate training … but do take time Typically research programs extend over 3 years $$$$$INDUSTRY $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$GOVERNMENT

Learning from 19th century school designs Reference: Lawrence Burchell, Victorian Schools, A study in colonial government Architecture 1837-1900, Melbourne University Press, 1980, p160.

Reference: Lawrence Burchell, Victorian Schools, A study in colonial government Architecture 1837-1900, Melbourne University Press, 1980, p16.

Learn by doing/creating • Interactive learning • Student focused and personalised learning • Kolb’s Learning cycle (concrete experience, comprehension, intention, experimentation) • Authentic learning • Multiple intelligences – Gardiner • Bloom’s taxonomy • Habits of mind Changing educational methods based on research into pedagogy have implications for school design

Drawing by Imogen Puller – Design 5A, 2006

BEST PRACTICE NEXT PRACTICE?

These are some questions we started with. 1 How does school design affect building performance and learning? 2 What are the cost benefits of current environmental initiatives? 3 Should high-tech initiatives be used alongside low-tech palettes? 4 How do stakeholders understand and use the learning environments? 5 What can students learn through engagement with the building?

What research has been undertaken focussing on the relationship between space and learning? Many American studies have focussed on aspects of the environment and have looked at measurable outcomes such as test scores related to comfort levels or quality of building.

‘ • If the school moves up two categories, such as from poor to excellent, the average achievement scores can be expected to increase by 11 percent. • M Edwards, Building conditions, parental involvement and student achievement in the D.C. public school system, 1992 • Students in the new school building significantly outperformed the students in the older building in reading, listening, language, and arithmetic. Further, faculty in the new building reported few disciplinary incidents and health problems than did faculty in the old building. • Research by Garret (1981), Chan (1982), Bowers and Burkett (1989), and Phillips (1997) reported by The National Academies, Review and Assessment of the Health and Productivity Benefits of Green Schools, 2006, p50. • A 2000 study by Stricherz did not ‘find that student performance rises when facilities go from the equivalent of a Ford to a Ferrari’ although he acknowledges achievement lags in shabby buildings.

The value of daylight in classrooms has been quantified in research by Heschong Mahone as resulting in a 7- and 26-percent improvement in student learning rates • Heschong Mahone Group Inc, Windows and Classrooms: A Study of Student Performance and the Indoor Environment. • “... students will perform mental tasks best in rooms kept at moderate humidity levels (40 to 70 percent) and moderate temperatures in the range of 68 to 74 degrees F. • Mark Schneider, Do School Facilities Affect Academic Outcomes? 2002,

A literature review by Higgens et al (2005) suggests the success of any new school is largely determined by the extent to which, and the ways in which, stake holders such as teachers, students and the community are involved in the school design process. They suggest the message is clear: • School designs cannot be imposed nor bought off-the-shelf. Success lies in users being able to articulate a distinctive vision for their school and then working with designers and architects to create integrated solutions. The open-plan classroom movement showed that purely physical design solutions that are not owned by their users or supported with effective systems and behaviour change will not work. (Higgens et al 2005: 3)[1] [1] Higgens, S., Hall, E., Wall, K., Woolner, P., & McCaughey, C., “The Impact of School Environments: A literature review”, The Design Council, http://www.design-council.org.uk/London: 2005.

In 2006, an interim literature review was undertaken on green school health and productivity benefits. • No studies yet on overall effects of green schools- difficulty of cause & effect and limitation of empirical measures in capturing all factors. • Moisture (visible dampness, mold growth in spaces or HVAC) • Robust evidence on impact of air quality on health and growing evidence that productivity is affected. • Mixed evidence on light – generally adequate conditions in schools • Sufficient evidence that lower noise = higher student achievement • All studies found test scores improved as the physical condition of the school improves but degree of improvement varies between studies. • More recently a new publication called Visible Learning by John Hattie (2008) overviews evidence-based research into achievement factors. The National Academies, Review and Assessment of the Health and Productivity Benefits of Green Schools, 2006

Westminster Academy (2007) West London Allford Hall Monaghan Morris www.bdonline.co.uk/Pictures/mediumlarge/r/o/f... • CABE made recommendations as part of the report • In brief: • Need for educational vision • Involve the right team • Careful evaluation • Whole-life funding mechanism are needed to avoid focus on capital costs • Mainstream best practice

In the UK, CABE published an audit in 2006 of 52 schools built under the “Building Schools for the Future” (BSF)? Program • ‘Too many mistakes of the past are being built under the BSF programme’ • Half of the 52 schools were rated as mediocre or poor and 19% as good or excellent • The review did not include costs – figures not available for PFI (private finance initiative) • PFI schools were 9 out of 10 worst schools and 3 out of 10 best schools • Recent schools were getting better • With few exceptions, schools performed badly on transformational change but well on daylight, ventilation, size safety, accessibility that are subject to regulations • CABE – Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment

CASE STUDY APPROACH eg –Hayball Architects – Wallan Secondary College Observation followed by participatory action – a form of embedded research

CURRENTLY

GREEN SPACE LEARNING SPACE CURRENTLY

CURRENTLY

Ben –(teacher): How can middle school learning environments be designed to facilitate greater student engagement in learning? Ken – (architect): What exactly do we mean by the term ‘flexible’ learning environment? CURRENTLY

RESEARCH SO FAR • Topic, questions, aims refined • Literature review around each topic • Observation in schools and of PD for teachers • Theoretical perspectives and case study methodology • Interviews, mapping of student/teacher movements • Workshops between educators and designers

Grades 5/6 Unit - Wooranna Park Primary School, Mary Featherston

The building Images provided by Mary Featherston

Learning Spaces: The transformation of educational spaces in Australia for the 21 st century