There is a common language that has been developing between Educators and Architects. This came about through necessity and the work of early pioneers in Innovative Learning Environments like the architects Prakash Nair. When this common language is introduced to teachers they are familiar concepts and practices that teachers use in the classroom often. One prime example is Professor David Thornburg’s primordial metaphors of storytelling.
Thornburg’s Primordial Metaphors
The primordial metaphors are really useful in having a shared conversation between educators and architects that allow for meaningful discussions about designing effective Innovative Learning Environments. It is only through consultation with teachers that architects can design learning environments that match the needs of students and teachers.
Research Identified Learning Modes
Melbourne School of Architecture has a long running collaborative research project on innovative learning environments. They have identified 9 learning modes.
What does that mean for us as teachers? We need to ask ourselves if we are taking full advantage of the space allocation in our classroom? There would be a number of these spaces that we regularly use in our learning and teaching process but equally there would be a few that may not be within our comfort zone.
Can we use these identified spaces in conjunction with the use of our own pedagogy to further enable improved learning outcomes? Can we identify those spaces we know we are not using effectively and start to develop our skills in designing learning activities for these spaces. Are we aware of the spaces where our students believe they learn best? Can they articulate why?
Workshop Overview
This workshop is designed to allow teachers to;
- explore the notion of a common language between educators and architects used to improve learning outcomes
- articulate a common connection between the goals of the architects and the educator
- identify the ways that environments can help to dictate purposefully designed learning activities
- investigate ways we can change our own pedagogical practice to take further advantage of innovative learning environments
By the end of this workshop teachers will be able to start identify the needs of their students in terms of desirable innovative learning environments and how the implementation of innovative pedagogies will improve students outcomes.