Learning Spaces: The transformation of educational spaces in Australia for the 21 st century An edited journal by Clare Newton + Kenn Fisher Architect & AcademicEducation Planner The University of MelbourneRubida Research To be launched October 29, 2009.

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

FITZROY HIGH SCHOOL extension –2009 – McBride Charles Ryan 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 dont have text books and yet they are effective learners. (It didnt suit my son.)

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

Australian Research Council – funded Linkage Project CHIEF INVESTIGATORS: Clare Newton Architecture Dr Dominique HesSustainable Design Dr Sue Wilks Education and curriculum Dr Kenn Fisher Educational planner Prof. Kim Dovey Urban

Australian Research Council – funded Linkage Project Clare Newton Architecture Dr Kenn Fisher Educational planner

Australian Research Council – funded Linkage Project INDUSTRY PARTNERS: DEECD – Dr Peter StewartGovernment Architect Rubida Research – Dr Kenn FisherHayball H2o ArchitectsMcGauran Giannini Soon McBride Charles RyanSBE Melbourne Mary Featherston Design

Australian Research Council – funded Linkage Project POST GRAD STUDENTS: Ben ClevelandTeacher Ken WoodmanArchitect

We are currently preparing students for jobs that dont yet exist...

using technologies that havent yet been invented...

in order to solve problems we dont 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

nghorror.com/bl og/archives/ html nghorror.com/bl og/archives/ html [May 26,2008

Action research Authentic Learning Blooms Taxonomy Cognitive Skills Declarative knowledge constructive alignment CONSTRUCTIVIST PEDAGOGIES Feedback Rubrics Multiple Intelligences Pedagogy REFLECTIVE PRACTICE Scope and sequence 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 We speak different languages…

Action research Authentic Learning Blooms Taxonomy Cognitive 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 We speak different languages…

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. KENN through his PhD research argues that….

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

Australian Research Council – funded Linkage Project Future Proofing Schools Australian Research Council – funded Linkage Project Hybrid Spaces for informal collaboration Australian Research Council – 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 19 th century school designs Reference: Lawrence Burchell, Victorian Schools, A study in colonial government Architecture , Melbourne University Press, 1980, p160.

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

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

Drawing by Imogen Puller – Design 5A, 2006

BEST PRACTICENEXT PRACTICE?

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? These are some questions we started with.

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] [1] Higgens, S., Hall, E., Wall, K., Woolner, P., & McCaughey, C., The Impact of School Environments: A literature review, The Design Council, London:

In 2006, an interim literature review was undertaken on green school health and productivity benefits. 1.No studies yet on overall effects of green schools- difficulty of cause & effect and limitation of empirical measures in capturing all factors. 2.Moisture (visible dampness, mold growth in spaces or HVAC) 3.Robust evidence on impact of air quality on health and growing evidence that productivity is affected. 4.Mixed evidence on light – generally adequate conditions in schools 5.Sufficient evidence that lower noise = higher student achievement 6.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 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

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?

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 RESEARCH SO FAR

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

Images provided by Mary Featherston The building

Images provided by Mary Featherston The building The fittings

Images provided by Mary Featherston The building The fittings The occupation

Masterplan drawing for Fitzroy Year 11/12 facility MCR Architects 2007

Masterplan drawing for Fitzroy Year 11/12 facility MCR Architects 2007

Hayball – Dandenong Education Precinct

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

Australian Science and Maths School, Flinders University, Australia

10/29d1566bc67c59aa7a1aa0b24f48afbb_resized.JPG The importance of leadership

Shared facility - UniSA, Council and Mawson Lakes School

Williamstown Secondary College – Green Star -5 stars.

- Visualisation tools - CadCam technologies - ESD imperatives - Collaborations - Systems thinking - Bespoke possibilities We are reaching some tipping points

Fawood Children's Centre, London Alsop Design

Kingsdale School UK

3 rd year architecture student work

Relocatables in three states of Australia

FUTURE PROOFING SCHOOLS Prefabrication Research application with IBM HYBRID SPACES LEaRN Learning Environments Applied Research Network Studio teaching INFORMAL LEARNING SPACES Learning Environments Virtual Reality Online Simulator LEVROS Current activities

Learning through prefabrication Prefabrication for school design An Australian perspective Clare Newton The Faculty of Architecture, Building & Planning The University of Melbourne Australia

Australian Research Council – funded Linkage Project Clare Newton Architecture Dr Kenn Fisher Educational planner