by Robert Dillon
Leading
space design isn’t another thing to add to the already busy schedule for school
leaders, but it is an essential lever of change that can support all of the
initiatives in the building. It is a comprehensive effort to rethink space
design. Leading space design will grow the school’s capacity for change,
promote a healthy learning culture, and garner the support of the greater
community. It goes well beyond conversations about how new furniture, hacked
furniture and flexible seating can change the learning in the classroom.
Optimizing
classroom design has primarily been the role for architects and designers on
the larger scale and classroom teachers in their individual spaces. Both groups
have done some amazing things to meet the modern learning needs of students,
but these efforts have been limited in their scale and long-term impact because
they haven’t focused on having building and district leaders central to the
design process.
Leaders that
are playing a central role in these conversations are seeing how excellent
space design from the outside of the building, all the way to the classroom,
leads to amazing benefits. These benefits include: showcasing the vision of the
school in a nonverbal way, uniting
teachers, students, and leaders, telling the story of the change and
innovation taking place in the building, caring in new ways for the whole
child, shifting teaching and learning, and finally, building leadership
capacity throughout the organization.
The
Non-Verbal Vision
Walls talk
and every image speaks a thousand words about a school. Leaders are always
looking for their vision of success to be understood and embraced in deeper
ways by more students, teachers, and parents. Space design is the non-verbal
vision of a school, and intentional design can help to get everyone pursuing
the same purpose.
Moving to
Commitment
A redesign
process elevates more voices into the learning space. It democratizes the
decisions about entryways, hallways, classrooms, and libraries. These shared
projects help to move an organization from compliance to commitment. Having a
role in designing the school from pedagogical design to designing the use of
digital tools to the rethinking of the space brings a fresh level of commitment
to the work happening throughout the school.
Showcasing
Innovation
Schools are
changing. Leaders are supporting this change, yet too much of it is trapped in
individual classrooms with a small audience of individuals that both know and
understand the changes that are happening. Leaders in the habit of intentional
space design are able to showcase the growth and innovation at their school
based solely on how the building speaks on its own and tells the story of
students learning in deep and modern ways.
A Place of
Caring
Schools can
be institutional. Many have been designed to maximize functionality and get as
many students through a school day as possible. The mission of learning
communities continues to be caring for children, and the space can be a key
component. Do students feel a sense of belonging? Do they have spaces that
support their many needs? Leaders are redesigning to maximize care, concern,
and belonging?
New Ways of
Learning
Connected
learning that brings students to experts and experts to students is hard to
realize in desks and rows. Critical thinking struggles in spaces that aren’t
filled with questions and places to explore. Collaboration between classes,
grade levels, and students can be maximized when there are common spaces that
support the movement and space that students and teachers need to design these
experiences.
Build New
Leaders
Excellent
school leaders are swamped in both the urgent and significant tasks of each
day, and the need to build internal leadership capacity to fully realize a
distributed leadership model is central to their long-term effectiveness.
Rethinking and redesigning can be a vehicle for building capacity. As teachers
and staff see themselves as space designers, they are freed to make other
decisions about the learning environment. This empowerment means more and more
decisions that support kids by design.
The research
continues to support the positive impacts that are possible with changes to the
learning spaces, and many leaders are seeing the power that space design has
had on individual classrooms. All of this is helping to nudge more and more
school and district leaders to see learning space changes as essential to the
work as pedagogical change and digital changes. Ultimately, these three areas
work as a triad for meaningful change.
Every space
in every school has room to grow in its design. There are way too many tired
spaces that speak loudly to parents, teachers, students, and the community.
They can leave people believing that the school says one thing and does
another. They can leave people believing that the level of detail for success
isn’t present at the school. They can, most importantly, lead people to believe
that excellent learning isn’t possible in this space. To begin to seeing how
space impacts all areas of a learning community, consider these questions.
Outside of
the building
● What message
does the outside of the building send? Many people in the community judge their
school based on driving by.
● Does the
outside of the building speak to only safety and security or does it tell the
learning story?
● How does the
green space showcase a level of excellence?
Entryway of
the school
● How many
times do visitors see the word no as they enter the building?
● Is there
welcoming signage from the parking lot to the place to check in?
● Are there
old posters, furniture and art work near the entryway?
● Do
individuals feel welcomed? How soon do visitors see images of students
learning?
Hallways
● Can students
learn concepts by just walking down the hallway?
● Are hallways
filled with learning examples that both showcase learning process and product?
● What art and
design features are displayed in the hallways?
● What signage
speaks to mission, purpose, and the key concepts of the building?
● Do your
hallways tell the non-verbal story of your learning community?
Common
Spaces
Libraries,
cafeterias, gymnasiums are areas that are seen and used by most students each
day. In addition, they are heavily seen and used by the community.
● What level
of design has gone into these spaces?
● Do they show
the level of detail to cleanliness that speaks to the excellence in the
building? Do they promote caring and belonging?
● Are these
areas energy creators or energy vampires?
Forgotten
Spaces
Visit a
school’s bathrooms and their teachers’ lounge and you can learn a lot about the
school.
● Are the
bathrooms sanitary and comfortable?
● Has design
played a role in how they have changed over time?
● Does the
teachers’ lounge speak loudly to the professionalism of the staff?
● Does the
teachers’ space feel like a place where teachers would gather to think,
reflect, and learn?
The time has
come to move beyond furniture and flexibility in classrooms, and begin to lead
in a comprehensive way around space design. This work can be an essential lever
of change for school leaders as they look to build a modern school that
supports the needs of all students. By leading this way, leaders can begin the
conversations and changes needed to shift the culture, community support, and
capacity for learning needed for true meaningful success for all students.
Dr. Robert Dillon serves the
students and community of the University City as Director of Innovation
Learning. Prior to this position, he served as a teacher and administrator in
public schools throughout the Saint Louis area. Dr. Dillon serves on the
leadership team for Connected Learning, a Saint Louis based organization
designed to reshape professional development to meet today's needs. Dr. Dillon
has published four books: THE SPACE: A Guide for Educators; Redesigning
Learning Spaces; Leading Connected Classrooms; and Engage, Empower,
Energize: Leading Tomorrow's Schools Today.
In 2013, Chris co-founded the non-profit Inquiry Schools with Diana Laufenberg to help more schools create more empowering, modern learning experiences for students, and he serves as Superintendent and Chair of the Board. In partnership with Inquiry Schools, Chris opened Science Leadership Academy (SLA) @ Beeber campus, the second campus in the SLA model, and in 2016, Chris co-founded Science Leadership Academy Middle School. SLA is a non-profit working to create and support student-centered learning environments that are inquiry driven, project based and utilizing modern technology. He is a respected educator and author, Building School 2.0: How to Create the Schools We Need.
