Changing Instruction and Today’s Classrooms

by Travis Dunlap, M.A.

The designs of K-12 classroom are evolving in light of emerging instructional practices and the diverse learning needs of our students. Many people still conceptualize classrooms as square boxes with rows of desks and chairs, cabinets and bookshelves along the walls, and a teacher’s workspace to the side. However, this view of learning environments is changing. The designers and builders of today’s classrooms are interested in creating clean, functional, and flexible learning spaces that accommodate varied instructional activities. Today’s classrooms are a departure from traditional notions of the built learning environment — they are dynamic and created to support an array of instructional practices and to prepare students for the demands of an evolving and globalized economy.  

The designs of classrooms are changing due to new instructional practices. Traditionally, teachers employed direct instruction that centered on the actions of speaking, listening, reading, memorization, and writing. This approach to instruction could be viewed as content-centric with an emphasis on ‘what’ students think. Traditional instructional methods heavily relied on structure, pattern, and predictability. Clear expectations from classroom instruction mirrored the anticipated economy facing learners in the world awaiting them outside the classroom walls. In the traditional view of instruction, classroom design featured the familiar elements of fixed seating, a lectern, and a front board. These elements were necessary to carry out the aims of instruction. However, the traditional models of instruction and classroom design are quickly fading away. 

Today, effective instructional practices are a departure from a traditional view of teaching. Currently, instruction is better understood as process-centric over content-centric, and the emphasis is on ‘how’ students should think as opposed to ‘what’ they should think. Now, instructional priorities center on themes such as deconstructionism, collaboration, effective communication, adaptation to new information, and the promotion of critical thinking skills. The dynamism of the today’s instruction follows from the innovation and unpredictability of a globalized economy. 

The world is changing, fast, and instruction must change to equip students with the physical, cognitive, and interpersonal skills demanded in today’s world.  Instruction is now concerned with skills and techniques such as comparative thinking, design thinking, project-based learning, game-based learning, strength-based learning, personalized learning, collaborative learning, blended learning, kinesthetic learning, and outdoor learning. Consequently, classroom design must change as well to support the emerging instructional practices.  
The changes in instructional priorities are shaping how we conceive of the design of learning spaces.  

In fact, a great deal of today’s instruction is dependent on new kinds of classrooms. For example, many teachers need outdoor classrooms, makerspaces, tech labs, and multipurpose rooms to ensure the successful implementation of instructional strategies. The symbiotic relationship between instruction and space is more crucial now than ever, and classrooms can be designed to maximize the instructional options of teachers. 

For example, teachers today can engage students in the global community — in many classrooms, students can chat with individuals abroad through live video streams. Teachers can also offer students an authentic conversation experience to discuss reading assignments over a hot drink in a learning space with the look and feel of a coffee shop. Additionally, classrooms may be designed to look like a conference room with a large table and swiveling leather chairs to support instructional strategies aimed at business or negotiations. 

Some classrooms may feature an industrial character with wood and metal and serve as an inspiring makerspace. Furthermore, as many instructional trends tend to embrace outdoor learning, we can design outdoor classrooms to be wigwams, tents, yurts, tree houses, greenhouses, or boats for courses in sciences, especially. There are really no limitations in thoughtfully designing learning spaces that support the instructional needs of our teachers and students. 

As we think about what today’s classrooms should look like, we must give a great deal of thought to the changes in instructional sensibilities, goals, and strategies. Teachers today are concerned with providing students experiential learning opportunities that are engaging and differentiated according to their needs.   Classroom designers have a great opportunity to think about and create the kinds of learning spaces that support the changes in instructional priorities and strategies and give students every advantage in their learning.  

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: 

Travis R. Dunlap is a research associate for the George Washington University in the Education Facilities Clearinghouse (EFC). After having worked as a foreign language educator, he now researches topics relevant to education facilities and their improvements. For more information about the EFC, visit: www.efc.gwu.edu

A School for Every Person on the Planet

by Dick Thomas, SHP Architecture

It’s time to radically rethink education and the places learning occurs. That’s the mission behind the 9 Billion Schools movement, which seeks to deliver truly personalized learning to every person on Earth. Is this vision achievable? Put down your No. 2 pencil, step away from the whiteboard and join me, the movement’s Wonderer in Chief, as I give Essentials readers a closer look at the future of education — a school for every person on the planet.

There’s never been a more exciting time to be an architect, designer or consultant to the education industry. The rapidity of change — including significant cultural, economic, pedagogical and technological shifts — over the next decade will place new strains on and demand new requirements of educational systems. At the same time, these changes present untold opportunities; even the very way we imagine when, where and with whom learning occurs will evolve and adapt. 

All signs clearly point to an increasingly greater degree of personalization, to learning that is radically more individualized than it is today. And there will be a far greater emphasis on and facilitation of learning in every facet of life — in the classroom, at work and even at play. “School” will cease to be a Kindergarten-to-college prescription and evolve into a life-long, life-wide and life-deep endeavor. 

This is an exciting prospect for SHP Leading Design — which has designed and engineered schools, colleges and other places of learning for more than a century — and I’m sure it’s exciting for many EDspaces Insights readers, as well. But it raises the question: How can architects, designers and consultants to the education industry prepare for this exciting future?

Enter 9 Billion Schools, a movement that launched in March at SXSWedu. Approximately two years ago, SHP Leading Design challenged itself to reimagine education so that everyone may stand a better chance of realizing his or her best and fullest self. Our entire staff asked questions, like, “What is school? What does it mean to be a student? What does the future of educational spaces look like?”

During this discovery process, something curious happened. We realized: We don’t know. But this intense, year-long exploration — which included experimental design exploration and a "futurecasting" exercise by former Intel (and current Arizona State University) futurist and author Brian David Johnson — led to 9 Billion Schools. 

The movement is so named because, by 2050, there will be 9 billion people on Earth. We believe each and every one of those people should be a school unto him- or herself. A "place," so to speak, of learning and teaching. And that opportunities to learn and teach should be just about everywhere, one’s whole life long. 

The 9 Billion Schools movement is rooted in three principles:

1. Learning is nothing short of a “womb to tomb” journey and, ideally, an adventure too. In recent years, others have advanced the notion that learning needs to be “Life-long, Life-wide and Life-deep.” (What we call "L3 learning.")

2. Learning is a highly personalized experience and, in fact, no two people best learn in exactly the same way — or with the same purposes and motivations. In fact, learning is as unique as one’s fingerprints with every arch, loop and whorl representing an exciting, individual journey. 

3. Mind, brain and education (MBE) sciences have revealed new insights into how we learn throughout life. We should apply these findings to how we teach kids at school, adults at work and ourselves through our hobbies, interests and leisure activities. 

These three principles can be summarized like this: Learning should be tailored to each individual and supported as long, wide and deep as life itself. 

This is not to suggest it will be easy. It will be anything but. However, human dignity and a flourishing society depends upon the effort (and expense) required to realize this vision. SHP Leading Design launched the 9 Billion Schools movement on March 8 at SXSWedu in Austin, where it was enthusiastically received. Now, we want to take it a step further. We want to challenge others in our industry to join the movement as well. 

Picture that famous World War I-era poster of Uncle Sam in his star-spangled top hat: We want you. We are actively recruiting thought leaders to join the movement, write guest posts for our blog or submit essays for possible publication in the first edition of our forthcoming book, 9 Billion Schools: Why the World Needs Personalized, Lifelong Learning for All. You can read current blog posts, preview the pre-release book and submit your own essay for consideration at 9BillionSchools.org. 

The rallying cry behind this movement, the 9 Billion Schools manifesto, is included below. If you find yourself nodding along as you read it, we hope you will join us in realizing its vision. We believe it will lead to a markedly better world. We hope you agree.

9 Billion Schools Manifesto

• It’s time to radically rethink education and the places where learning occurs. 

• It’s time to recognize that each and every learner is radically different in ability and interests, in hopes and dreams — and act upon that. Standardized anything should give us pause. 

• It’s time to stop talking about learning as a lifelong, cradle-to- grave endeavor — and act upon that too. 

• It’s time to recognize that our world is never going to become any less complex and fluid, any less specialized and nuanced. In this still emerging new world of ours, school never ends. It can’t. Learning must be life-long, life-wide and life-deep. 

• It’s time to think of school not as a singular place or experience, but as many places and many experiences. 

• It’s time to think of each person as needing a school unto him or herself, each with the exact right teachers and curriculum, guidance and opportunities. 

In short, it’s time to conceive of — and deliver — education that recognizes the dignity and singularity of each learner and, to the fullest extent possible, caters to their specific needs and hopes, talents and dreams: Be it a 7-year-old with a learning disability and an interest in digital games or a 77-year-old Nobel laureate with an interest in Chinese art. 

We’ll soon have nine billion people on the planet, which means we should have nine billion schools. Please join us and the 9 Billion Schools movement as we seek to take education to the next level, providing greater dignity and brighter futures to each and every learner. This will be a giant step forward for all of humanity—all nine billion of us. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Dick Thomas, AIA, NCARB, LEED AP, is Wonderer in Chief for the 9 Billion Schools movement. He is also the co-author of the forthcoming book, 9 Billion Schools: Why the World Needs Personalized, Lifelong Learning for All (Wordsworth Press, summer 2017). He has a keen interest in how technology can facilitate the rapidly changing paradigms of learning in all its manifestations. In addition to championing the 9 Billion Schools movement, Dick serves as vice president of architecture for SHP Leading Design, where his education portfolio reflects a wide spectrum of facility planning and design solutions. Dick can be reached at Dick@9BillionSchools.org. 

Empathetic by Design: An Inclusive, Research-based Process for Designing Schools for Children with Autism

By: 

Bethany DeLine, Designer, HDR
Bethany Friedow, MS, EDAC, Researcher, HDR
Brian Giebink, AIA, LEED AP BD+C, EDAC, Architect, HDR

We live in a world where the public often judges architectural merit on pure aesthetic.  Architecture as an art undoubtedly contributes to our cultural capital, and expertise within the field is a valuable tool.  Yet, great architectural design results not just from the art associated with the aesthetic, but how well the building supports its occupants.

When it comes to designing schools for children with autism, art and experience are no longer enough. Even the most well-meaning designer looking to inspire creativity or foster positive feelings must re-examine what it means to be empathetic in design. In this case, the best way to be empathetic is to reduce assumptions and be as open-minded as possible.

An empathetic person traditionally may practice active listening, asking questions, and looking to connect to the feelings of another person. This all makes sense in a situation where the architect and the building’s users are neuro-typical functioning individuals, and the largest hurdles may be overcome through discourse and further clarification. When it comes to designing for children with autism, we must overcome communication challenges while simultaneously accounting for the fact that the child’s sensory experience is vastly abstracted and magnified in comparison to the neuro-typical adult. White may become blinding; green may become red; and a simple wall sign may become the difference between a successful and unsuccessful trip to the bathroom. Between the communication barrier and differing experience of the world all-together, achieving an empathetic design must look to additional methods to cater to these users.

Spero Academy: A Case Study in Empathetic Design

“If you think of the primary problem of autism being understanding, coping with and responding to the sensory environment, you can grasp the power of architecture in their everyday lives.”
– Magda Mostafa

Spero Academy, located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, provides a safe space for students with autism to build confidence — a place to learn how to regulate and manage their emotions, behaviors, and disorders so they can experience the type of accomplishment that so many take for granted. The school provides a national model of tailored education for children with special needs. In 2018, a newly constructed building will help accommodate planned programming expansion intended to meet growing demand for the Academy’s services, replacing a small rented space just a few blocks away. The new 64,000-square-foot school building will house 21 classrooms, a gymnasium, cafeteria, kitchen, administration, and various specialist rooms.

As our team began the planning phase of this new home for Spero Academy, one of our highest priorities was to ensure we upheld an empathetic approach to design decisions large and small. To accomplish this, we needed to understand how students process and respond to the sensory environment to the best of our ability. We knew it would not be possible to customize a school to fit each individual’s specific needs, because each student is unique and copes and responds to the sensory environment in different ways. We did know, however, that the physical spaces where students learn have an active role in shaping their experience and that certain design strategies have been found to have an effect on student learning and behavior (Khare, 2010; Khare & Mullick, 2009; Mostafa, 2008; Yates, 2017).  This drove us to seek out more specific research and recommendations on designing for autism and to speak to educators to glean their insights into the needs of students at Spero Academy.

A focus group was held with 10 educators, including classroom teachers, a music therapist, speech therapists, occupational therapists, and a behavioral specialist. Questions included probes into the specific behavioral, educational and environmental challenges each participant faced in the current building and what environmental qualities their ideal learning or therapy environments would embody in the new space. Their insights and recommendations were then vetted with the research recommendations that were uncovered in order to determine what would be included in the proposed design.  While many of the specific strategies identified from the research require more research to determine effectiveness, our team was able to uncover several expert theories and recommendations on which to formulate our design.


Sensory Sensitive vs. Neuro-typical Approaches

One of the first sets of theories we uncovered was the sensory-sensitive and neuro-typical approaches to designing environments for students with autism. Of the two theories, the sensory-sensitive approach is the approach most typically employed and studied regarding design for the autistic population. It involves tailoring an environment to best accommodate the needs and sensitivities of students with autism. However, we also uncovered several advocates of the neuro-typical approach. This is essentially the philosophy that children with autism should experience “typical” environments for all activities, including education, with the hypothesis that it will help with overall integration into society. There are strong arguments for each approach, but, as of now, there are no definitive studies comparing the sensory sensitive approach to the neuro-typical approach (Mostafa, 2008, Henry, 2011). Henry (2011) concludes that the best approach to designing for students with autism may be a combination of both theories.

While our initial design philosophy for the new Spero Academy building primarily followed the recommendations of the sensory-sensitive approach, our design team has ultimately integrated strategies from both neuro-typical and sensory-sensitive theories into the design where deemed appropriate.  Many of these theories were inspired by “Interior Design for Autism” written by A.J. Paron-Wildes.  Below are just five of many different ways these approaches are being realized in the final design.


Putting Theory to Practice

1.) A Welcoming Entry Sequence
First impressions are very important, especially for charter schools, where students and parents have the choice whether or not they want to enroll.  Parents visiting the school have to determine if this is the right school for their child to spend nearly every day for the next few years of their life; therefore, creating an inviting and comfortable entry sequence is crucial for Spero Academy to realize their growth goals in Minneapolis. As a result, the entry sequence follows a neuro-typical design approach, creating a sense of familiarity.  The exterior design is warm, inviting, and playful.  We wanted the school to look like a school and inspire excitement for the students and comfort for parents. The design of the main entrance includes a two-story space with ample exterior glazing to create an open space and bring daylight and nature into the space, creating a welcoming and comfortable environment for parents and visitors, without hindering the students’ ability to focus and learn.

2.) Sensory Zoning
The overall floor plan of the school was inspired by a sensory-sensitive design consideration which suggests that children with autism tend to be more comfortable in spaces zoned according to “high-stimulus” and “low-stimulus” qualities (sensory zoning) as opposed to those zoned by function of space (functional zoning).  By distinctly separating high-stimulus zones from low-stimulus zones with transition zones in between, children are able to recalibrate their senses as they move from one zone to the next.   To design for the student population at Spero Academy, we divided the school into sensory zones, separating the high-stimulus, low-focus areas such as the gym, cafeteria, entrance, and gathering areas from the high-focus, low-stimulus zones such as the classrooms, media lab, speech room, specialist rooms, and restrooms. Sensory zoning occurs in the classrooms as well.  Each activity within the classroom is allocated to a “station” that is physically distinguished from other areas of the room through changes in furniture, flooring and lighting levels appropriate to the “station’s” function.

3.) Lighting for a Calming Environment
Lighting is another important consideration. In addition to substantial natural daylight with window shades to adjust natural light levels, the overhead lighting plays an important role in creating a sensory sensitive environment.  Similar to many schools, classroom lights are on occupancy sensors.  However, lights must be manually turned on upon entering the room.  In Spero Academy’s current school, many teachers do not use overhead lights at all, rather they use only natural daylight or a combination of lamps and natural light.  Giving the teachers the ability upon entering the classroom to leave the lights turned off creates a calming affect for the students.

4.) Subdued vs. Vibrant Color Palettes
Individuals with autism can be hyper-sensitive to color or light intensity, so bright color and sharp contrast can be distracting or disorienting.  Reinforcing spatial zoning, the high focus, low-stimulus areas have soft natural light and a subdued color palette and that is calming and comfortable, avoiding over-stimulating or vibrant colors.  In contrast, the high-stimulus, low focus areas utilize larger expanses of natural light and a slightly more vibrant color palette, while still ensuring the colors are not overly stimulating.

5.) Non-toxic Chemicals in Furniture, Equipment, & Building Materials
A final consideration that relates to both neuro-typical and sensory-sensitive environments is the importance of using non-toxic chemicals in furniture, equipment, and building materials and eliminating off-gassing to the greatest extent possible.  Children with autism can be more susceptible to toxic chemicals due to a weakened immune system, so eliminating the exposure of chemicals to the greatest extent possible can prevent medical and behavioral problems.

Conclusion

The new school will begin construction in the coming months.  While we know there’s still much to learn when it comes to designing spaces for children with autism, the supporting research and design strategies integrated into the planning and design of the new school give us confidence that the school will be a safe, comfortable, and inviting learning environment for students to learn, grow, and succeed.  Students of Spero Academy deserve to experience successes in school and in life just as much as everyone else.  Our goal was to combine art, science and empathy to design a new building that will provide opportunities for success for current students and many more within the community.
 

Authors:

Bethany DeLine is a designer at HDR, and human advocate, an eclectic creative and an impassioned creator of happy places.

Bethany Friedow is a researcher at HDR who brings a unique skillset, with strengths in both design and research and an innate curiosity which drives her work and allows her to focus on cultivating a greater understanding of how design impacts health, wellness and user experience.

Brian Giebink  is an architect  at HDR dedicated to creating safe, healthy, empowering environments for children and adults in healthcare and education settings. His leadership in behavioral and mental health design inspires a unique approach to school design for students with special needs.


References

• Paron-Wildes, A.J. (2014). Interior Design for Autism: From Childhood to Adolescence. Hoboken, New Jersey, John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

• Yates, M. K. (2017). Building Better Schools: A New Model for Autism Inclusion in Seattle (Doctoral dissertation). 

• Khare, R. (2010). Designing inclusive educational spaces for autism. Institute for Human Centered Design.

• Khare, R., & Mullick, A. (2009, October). Designing inclusive educational spaces with reference to autism. In Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting (Vol. 53, No. 8, pp. 517-520). Sage CA: Los Angeles, CA: SAGE Publications.

• Mostafa, M. (2008). An architecture for autism: Concepts of design intervention for the autistic user. International Journal of Architectural Research, 2(1), 189-211.

• Henry, C.N. (2011, November 3). Designing for autism: The neuro-typical approach. ArchDaily. Retrieved from: http://www.archdaily.com/181402/designing-for-autism-the-neuro-typical-approach

• Mostafa, M. (2015). The Autism ASPECTSS™ Design Index. Retrieved from:  https://www.autism.archi/aspectss

• Quirk, V. (2013, October 9). An interview with Magda Mostafa: Pioneer in autism design. ArchDaily. Retrieved from: http://www.archdaily.com/435982/an-interview-with-magda-mostafa-pioneer-in-autism-design