Curating a Learning Environment

When designing learning for adults, I always place emphasis on professional learning that is experiential, by seeking out creative and lateral learning experiences for staff. External conferences will always have their place, but they are invariably limited to sitting down and listening to someone speak. To be outside the school environment and learning in a relevant, contemporary and practical manner, seems key to genuine learning. With this in mind, I am always excited to hear about teacher’s reflections after a professional learning experience and one of the things I have noticed is that there has been a change in what is having the greatest impact. Where staff was once energised and inspired by conferences, I find they now have a much greater appetite for the experiential options on offer, namely opportunities to shadow other educators and visit other learning environments.

With this in mind, I decided to use some of my long service leave to visit schools around Australia. This has taken me all over Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, and Brisbane and I am very grateful to the leaders of learning and Principals who have generously spent time showing me around their school. I gained so many ideas and insights from the visits but the main thing that I have been percolating over is the environment and this has been the inspiration for writing this blog post.

It was really interesting to see the way different schools had been designed, some merging gorgeous heritage buildings with new learning spaces, some repurposing old spaces, and the other schools were completely new. Whilst the physical design of the school was a point of interest, it was actually what the learning environment communicated, once I was in the space, that I was most interested in. ‘As a culture shaper, the physical environment is the ‘body language’ of an organisation, conveying its values and key messages, even in the absence of its inhabitants.’ (Ritchhart, 2015)

As I visited the schools, two key questions were present in my thinking;

·   What does space tell me about the learning that is happening?

·   What can I tell about the individual learners, not just the teacher, who inhabit the space?

Having visited so many schools recently, it’s actually quite amazing how much the learning environment can communicate about the assumptions and values of the school. I've written this blog with one particular primary school in mind. The reason I call out this particular school is because before their Principal said anything, I could see and feel what was valued in learning.

The Hum of Learning

Stepping through the doors into their open plan learning studios, I was immediately struck (and somewhat shocked) by the sense of purposeful calmness. There were literally hundreds of children dispersed throughout the space but there was such an apparent sense of calmness- I would describe the sound like a gentle hum of learning. Notably, as we wandered through the space, I did not see one teacher sitting in front of a group of students. Rather, teachers were part of small circles or working groups, quietly engaging with their students through thinking routines and thoughtful questions. Purpose and engagement permeated through the spaces and everyone seemed to be in charge of their learning.

Teachers: Curators of the Space 

The spaces I visited demonstrated both deliberate care and restraint. 'Missing were all the commercially made materials you often find in primary school classrooms, such as colourful carpet squares, alphabet strips, smiling cartoon characters, birthday calendars etc. Absent, too, was the explosion of primary colours and hanging artwork. Rather, I was surrounded by evidence of student thinking and learning. Sculptures, reflections, and photographs were carefully arranged that invited me to pay close attention to what was important. Photographs of students engaged in their work accompany documented snippets of their learning conversation, making past events come to life…the muted colour palette makes the room not seem busy or overwhelming. Everything is displayed on black or white backgrounds, allow the colour from the photographs or students learning to fully emerge.’ (Ritchhart, 2015)

Documentation

Documentation can contribute to the depth of children’s learning from their projects and other work experiences. Loris Malaguzzi points out, through documentation children “become even more curious, interested, and confident as they contemplate the meaning of what they have achieved” (Malaguzzi, 1993). By preparing and displaying evidence of the children’s learning experiences, the children can re-visit their experience and learning which may bring new understandings and more in-depth thinking, questioning, and dialogue. Documentation of children’s ideas, thoughts and feelings are a great way to stimulate memories of experiences.

Notably, there was a consistency in how learning was documented throughout the spaces in the school, which implied there had been an intentional focus on developing a collective understanding about the purpose of documentation.

The dynamic displays that I saw shared a story about the learning process, captured group, and collective thinking, provided a resource for discussion and reflection and enabled the students to connect to and build on their prior learning experiences. I couldn’t simply wander past, glancing briefly, the documentation invited close and careful looking. I also saw many examples of research quotes sitting alongside student learning, telling me that this was a school community who valued and embedded research in their practice.

'Cura'- The Care of All Things

The Reggio Emilia philosophy guides many early learning educators in how they create and design the learning environment and experiences for their children. One concept that they value very highly and one I love is ‘Cura’- the Italian word for ‘the care of all things.’ This is not care as we know it in Australia but is a deep respect for resources, the classroom environment and the people who share the learning spaces. This profound respect also forms the basis of relationships between educators and learners and importantly, valuing the aesthetics of the environment. It is far more than a set of rules for children to follow. It is a way of being and behaving in every space and place within the environment.

Final Thoughts

An invitational spirit is important for all schools and it is important that classrooms are individual, creative places. There is no single way they should look however it is important that all spaces provide ‘a grand vision to learners: one that tells them…in this space, ideas will grab you for exploration; those in the room will support your explorations even as they challenge and push you; your learning will be celebrated’

In his book, Creating Cultures of Thinking, Ron Richhart suggests some guiding questions to assess the invitational quality of the classroom;

·   What first greets me as a visitor to this space?

·   Does the space invite, inspire and inform?

·   Is this a space I would want to learn in?

·   What draws me in and beckons me as a learner?

·   Do the displays invite close looking or are they dismissed after a quick glance?

·   Does my eye have a place to land or am I bombarded with too much activity?

·   Is there so much ancillary colour that it detracts from students’ work?

· ·   How will I move within this space and create different spaces to fit my learning need?

·   Does this space feel static or dynamic?

·   Is this space connected to nature or the world at large?

·   What in this room makes me smile, takes me by surprise or causes me to gasp in amazement?

If you were to take a walk around your school environment or the learning space that you spend most of your time, what does your space communicate about what kinds of thinking and learning are valued?

Thank you again to the school leaders and principals who have inspired and ignited new ideas after visiting their schools.