How to does the actual school building enhance or distract from your learning?

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Permalink Reply by Carolyn Avaire on July 17, 2007 at 12:12pm

I was so hoping to hear from students on your topic. I am more interested in hearing from students than responding myself! But since none have yet... I will.

I am so happy that you brought this up. I am passionate about school design. I have been in many classrooms that are so distracting and filled with "stuff" too much stuff, it is stifling. I think there should be a design TV show, While You Were Out, for teachers! Then...remove the carpeting, find flooring that doesn't need toxic chemicals to be maintained, eliminate the clutter chaos, provide some sort of air cleansing, and change the lighting. Make sure each student has an adequate area of personal space around them. I was just in a class where the students were literally tripping over each other. This has a huge impact on the psyche.

Light, space and color, outdoor/ indoor landscaping and for me the most important issue is that school design must serve as an example of environmental considerations with the products, resources and amount of energy used being eco friendly... New or updated building should have full disclosure of their environmental impact. We need to connect with this on every level.

The entrance to a school or the journey off of the bus into the building should be a pleasant experience for the psyche. Getting off of the bus to walk across a black top parking lot isn't so good!

Thanks for sharing the excellent article. I am in total awe and it is so exciting to see changes on their way.

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Permalink Reply by Kim FB on July 17, 2007 at 3:29pm

Avalon students on this site:

It would be interesting to hear your opinions on this given the environment you work in at school. First, you'll need to explain what the environment is like at your school.

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Permalink Reply by Tiffany Green on July 20, 2007 at 12:26pm

Thanks Carolyn. I like your "While you were out" idea. I'd like to do the entire school "while they are out" for the summer but one classroom at a time is a way to make progress. There needs to be more attention on the psychology of spaces. We've all been in spaces that for some reason we did not want to leave or we really were inspired to work - or not. I've toured some schools that after a few hours I was ready to run from the building screaming. I feel compassion for the thousands of kids locked into "baby prisons". And we all wonder what's going on. There is a whole realm of understanding that is not being discussed.

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Permalink Reply by Tiffany Green on July 20, 2007 at 12:27pm

My firm www.fieldingnair.com has toured Avalon a couple of times. I would love to hear about your environment.

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Permalink Reply by Brett on July 21, 2007 at 10:43pm

I think that school is a place for students to prepare for our future, so what our school building sets as an example is how we will think other buildings will look like and our future offices and homes. We should have our own personal space were we don't need to worry about tripping over each other, or becoming frustrated with how little room there is to learn.
The way the school not only looks, but how it treats the environment and the details within the space will make a difference in the way kids learn. I have done a little bit of research into solar energy and AVALONDREAMER2006 could also tell you a lot about it, but if public schools were to look into the use of solar energy it could not only be a good for the budget in the long run, but be a good way of teaching kids about the importance of being good to the earth, and also there are some good science lessons involved with solar panels. This would be a way for kids to see good lessons in their own lives instead of just talking about it in school.

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Permalink Reply by Carolyn Avaire on July 22, 2007 at 6:14am

Brett,
What's up at Avalon? What's it like? Kim and Tiffany mentioned Avalon's environment. I'm curious. I'll have to come for a tour!

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Permalink Reply by shanaye mitchell on July 24, 2007 at 9:40am

I think a good school design has a plenty of windows. I dont like schools that look like prisons, with high fences and metal dectors, and where three of your six classes dont have any windows or sunlight; they just have "fake" light. All it does for me is make me dislike going to school becasue I feel like I'm being detached from the world, and I thought the whole reason behind going to school was to better the world.

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Permalink Reply by Brett on July 24, 2007 at 8:33pm

Here is something I pulled directly off the website that is a less jumbled up way of explaining about my school than I might type, bellow this paragraph. A lot of my inspiration for what I think is the perfect school comes from Avalon. It is a fabulous school and the environment is an open, respectful, equal, fun, and great place to learn no matter who you are. I think that because the advisors (teachers) know the students at a personal level and individually it really helps students learn well, (since everything is independent project based,) the curriculum is planned individually by the student and their advisor for that particular kid. We really do work hard to have a great community at Avalon and make everyone feel important because they are. When something bad happens we stand by each other and grow as a school. I think the environment at Avalon is perfect I would encourage anyone to come take a tour sometime once school starts we would love to share it with you.

http://www.avalonschool.org/blog/

Mission Statement

Avalon School prepares students for college and life in a strong, nurturing community that inspires active learning, engaged citizenship, and hope for the future.

AVALON combines (1) a college-prep focus, (2) interdisciplinary seminars, (3) project–based learning, and (4) a technology component. This will be complemented by extensive training in ethics, conflict resolution, interpersonal/life skills, and active citizenship and community service.

At AVALON, middle school and high school are viewed not just as a time for preparing for college or a vocation, but as a vital and important component in each student’s life. Students must be meaningfully engaged in every class, project and endeavor in a quality way.

AVALON will:
• Create a content–rich curriculum with a global emphasis, stressing depth over breadth and drawing upon the passions and interests of its students.
• Build a school culture and set of core values centered on excellence and active citizenship.
• Focus on developing interpersonal, communication and learning skills to complement academic achievement.
• Draw upon the greater non–teacher community for mentors to help students identify their intellectual passions, develop their individual learning styles, teach real–life skills, offer apprenticeship opportunities, and pinpoint potential contributions to their community.
• Develop international and cross–cultural awareness and cooperation. This may include exchanges, correspondence and partnerships with schools in other countries, potentially including high schools abroad that share this focus.
• Develop leadership opportunities for all participants. All members of the school community will be involved in decision–making, and students will be given a real voice and stake in the school.



http://www.avalonschool.org/blog/

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Permalink Reply by Tiffany Green on July 25, 2007 at 9:58am

Shanaye, you're exactly right. One of the most important aspects of good school design is natural light. Our firm calls natural light and transparency in schools "Design Patterns". A pattern describes a problem that occurs over and over again in our environment; and then describes the core of the solution in such a way that you can use the solution a million times over without ever doing it the same way twice. Check it out http://www.designshare.com/index.php/language-school-design for more patterns of school design. I would love to get your take on the various patterns. Which occur more often in schools and which do you really desire more of?

You mentioned you don't like schools that look like prisons. Again, your intuition is right on. Many of the schools built in the 1920-1940s can still be great spaces today because they had big windows, hardwood floors, wide hallways. But the schools built in many cities during the late 60s through the 70s are "baby prisons". After the riots in Chicago, Detroit etc. the architectural firms hired by school districts were the same firms building prisons. Those school districts said they wanted to make sure the students were secure within the buildings. Well shortly after the riots the housing patterns within those cities changed dramatically from an a majority white to black population. Many black children are still stuck in those facilities (no natural light, the cells being the classrooms, institutionally fed, no outdoor, metal detectors etc). There is tremendous research about how environments impact student behavior.

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Permalink Reply by Tiffany Green on July 25, 2007 at 10:08am

My take is that the definition of "school" needs to expand to include the community. "The school is the community, the community is the school". Many of the life skills needed to be successful, you learn outside of "school". I want to see schools become Community Learning Centers where there is space for the entire community to learn from one another. Why can't a business person come and talk to learners (learners can be anyone, youth, seniors, etc). With the advent of wireless technologies, school can be anywhere/anytime. As you said, it all about how the environment is treated. Just think of all the coffee shops with comfy chairs and wifi or a library, or a park. School may or may not be in a building but learning can take place anywhere. I'm feeling a little philosophical this morning.

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Permalink Reply by Kim FB on July 25, 2007 at 11:59am

Wow, Tiffany! I just learned a lot from that post.

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Permalink Reply by Kim FB on July 25, 2007 at 3:42pm

See this link for a picture of Avalon: http://www.educationevolving.org/pdf/Teachers_In_Pro_Practice_2ndED...

What I notice:

1. Orange and yellow walls (the students have told me they like it -- Bright)
2. Lots of natural light
3. The teacher is not at the front of the room, writing on a blackboard. This is pretty much how it goes at Avalon. At first I was going to write that this has nothing to do with the building. But then, it has everything to do with it. The school is organized in pods -- 17 or so students, mixes of grades 7-12. The teacher advises these students. The students don't travel; the teacher does. The teacher guides the learning...advising all these age groups helps that.
4. You can't see it in the pic, but in the middle there are "commons" that students can go to most of the time, at their will. They can work independently or together.
5. The student in the back? That's her desk. She the computer on it with one other student. The desk is L-shaped and she has all the stuff she works on on it. Some students desks are messy. Others are not. This is the center for her learning. She doesn't travel from classroom to classroom.
6. Pics/decor you might think of as locker decor? That's what students use to decorate their desk.
7. Plant life!
8. In the bathroom, you'll see notes from students telling each other to keep it clean. They're responsible for this duty, so they tend not to mess it up. Sorry it this offends anyone, but I was also surprised to see a bowl of tampons. Not a pay machine, but a friendly bowl.
9. There are a few classrooms... The students and parents pushed for there to be a few seminar courses, and the teachers (who run the school) responded.

(Incidentally, Carolyn, you might be interested in the report itself. It's about teachers that run schools. More on that at www.educationevolving.org/teacherpartnerships)

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