1. Change the environment: “If you want to change pedagogy, you must first change the environment,” said Stubbs. As we think about the space where learning occurs, can furniture tilt the classroom towards being more student-centered? What types of changes do we need to make in order to make this a reality? Teachers should begin asking themselves which parts of the classroom are really used, begging the question which spaces are not. From an optimization stand point, both require attention — and change.

2. Reduce the clutter: Clutter is very distracting to the learning environment. Furniture should provide organizational solutions that aid in decluttering student and classroom clutter.

3. Integrate wireless and transparent technology: As you evaluate new classroom solutions, judge equipment on the level of seamless and transparent technology. In layperson’s terms, technology should not get in the way of the learning environment but be present when needed. And of course, always consider wireless power and data whenever possible.

4. Respond to multiple learning and teaching styles: Whether students are debating in small groups, viewing a PowerPoint or interacting within a lab, furniture should be adaptable to fit many modes of learning. “The ultimate goal for furniture is to respond to all current and future pedagogy,” said Stubbs.

5. Establish total mobility: A classroom brimming with mobile, student chairs is nice. Finding a solution to enable educators to configure the entire room effortlessly, throughout the day or year, meeting multiple teaching and learning styles, is completely different. When looking for classroom solutions, try to find solutions that address the whole classroom in order to maximize the full use of the word “mobile.”

6. Be adaptable, agile and recoverable: “The tools that we seek all need to perform in these three ways,” said Stubbs. The product, system and/or process needs to be able to adapt to constantly evolving educational landscapes. With that, they need to be simple and easy to use when transformed. And finally, will they provide opportunities that are recoverable, enabling the facilitators to set up their environments in familiar ways? Too many times, educators find a great configuration only to forget it when trying to recall it later.

7. Be multi-functional: As schools think to purchase furniture, one guiding question should be whether or not the furniture offers multiple uses. Can it be a storage unit one day, a stool for debates another and a surface on which to write later? Multifunctional tools eliminate the need to acquire multiple products that serve only one function, thus avoiding introducing clutter back into the environment.

8. Be fun, inviting and engaging: When families enter into the environment, they must no longer recognize the space from which their grandparents learned or has been iconized from old television shows like “Leave It to Beaver.” Spaces must be fun, inviting and engaging. Spaces must also permit choice, encourage facilitation and allow continuous professional growth.

At GEI, we often talk about the importance of the physical space within your classroom. And for good reason: Creative classroom environments have been linked to increased student learning. But limited budgets, grandfathered furniture and a lack of support can make it difficult to try new things. But that doesn’t mean you can’t take a stance.

Read more about Davis A. Stubbs II and how he’s creating customizable solutions to improve the educational environment to fit individualized needs here. For more information about GEI, visit: http://geiendorsed.com/

The post Eight Steps for Creating the Best Educational Space appeared first on School Construction News.

Projects of Distinction
Chigwell Child and Family Center
Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
Tasmania Department of Education
The Chigwell Child and Family Center promotes the health and wellbeing, education and care of young children and their families. Practitioners work collaboratively to deliver a wide range of services that support children, families and the community. The pedagogical emphasis on child-centered activity engendered an environment that fosters imagination and allows children to move freely. The distinction between building structure and play equipment is blurred, engaging children in exploration, physical activity and play. Responding to the deep and narrow site, the sustainable building design encompasses a backdrop of Mount Wellington and breathtaking views of the River Derwent below.

Red Hawk Elementary School
Erie, Colo.
RB+B Architects
“Anytime, anywhere learning,” was a primary consideration in the design of Red Hawk Elementary, eliminating traditional hallways and incorporating unique and creative learning environments. Inspired by scenes of colorful street festivals, the design team created a central “living room”, affording kids the ability to weave in and out of this colorful setting throughout the day. Red Hawk’s commitment to student health and physical activity is unparalleled. Their All School Movement Program is designed to get students out of their seats for 40 minutes a day, in addition to PE and recess. During the Red Hawk Walk, students and teachers powerwalk through the wide hallways, flex spaces and community areas of the building.

Sandy Hill High School
Sandy, Ore.
Dull Olson Weekes-IBI Group Architects
Incorporating contemporary planning and design strategies relevant to 21st century education, the design of Sandy Hill High School was organized to minimize environmental impacts and disturbance of the natural landscape. Transparency, visibility and connectedness to the outdoors are a common theme, expanding educational opportunities beyond the building. A Community Boulevard runs north/south and provides a public presence for the theater, gymnasium, multi-level commons and community rooms used by both community and school. The Student Street runs east/west and navigates the 80-foot elevation change. Along this path are the entries to the learning wings, composed of “cabins”, four or five classrooms gathered around a shared extended learning area, terraced into the hillside, providing a tranquil setting within nature.

Singapore International School
Secondary School Campus
Honk Kong
MKPL Architects Pte Ltd
The Singapore International School in Hong Kong (HKSIS) was established in 1995 as the only overseas school funded by the Ministry of Education, Singapore. In 2007, an empty public school building adjacent to the campus was made available for the expansion of HKSIS to include a secondary school and pre-university curriculum. Through adaptive re-use and partial modernization, the facility was transformed into a unique learning environment, climate-responsive and ecologically sensitive. Celebrating community and connectivity, the project encompasses physical connections between the old and new buildings housing the primary school and the secondary wing. Visual connections to the mountainous landscape as well as social connections within the school and extending to the community continue the pattern of “making connections.” A central atrium forms the heart of the school, connecting all levels of the facility, introducing daylighting and natural ventilation to the interior spaces. A ‘floating volume – sports zone’ forms a natural canopy over the main plaza, enabling the space to become an all-weather social gathering space.

Trillium Creek Primary School
West Linn, Ore.
Dull Olson Weekes-IBI Group Architects
Built on a site used as neighborhood open space, including a significant stand of firs, wetlands and the headwaters of Trillium Creek, the Trillium Creek Primary School project provided a unique opportunity to design a school reflective of the community’s values. The design highlights the natural features of the site and provides walking paths and connections for the community to use the site for exploring the forest and wetland. The multidimensional library is the center of research and inquiry. The school is meant to portray that learning can be fun, incorporating bright colors, multidimensional spaces, a crow’s nest and even a slide in the library Each classroom in the school features an “oriel” that extends from the building and creates an independent learning place for students, giving the feeling that they are suspended in the outdoor forested environment.

Lee J. Brockway Award – Renovation
Buckingham County Primary and Elementary Schools
Dillwyn, Va.
VMDO Architects
Two former Virginia mid-century schools were repurposed as a modern learning campus for K-5 students promoting connectivity, creativity, health and wellbeing for the community. A dining commons connects the two buildings and serves as a hub for activity for the entire community. Unique shared used spaces like a kitchen lab, commercial kitchen, teaching kitchens and outdoor gardens are used by the public providing healthy, food based education for the community. Academic areas spill out into corridors with reading nooks and small group study stations, transforming the area into child-centric “learning streets.” By thoughtfully integrating local resources in the schools indoor/outdoor spaces, the learning campus promotes the natural environment in daily experiences of students.

To learn more about CEFPI and its upcoming events, please visit www.cefpi.org

The post CEFPI Honors School Designs With Project of Distinction Awards appeared first on School Construction News.

The purpose of a human-based educational concept is to promote holistic learning, shape and organize school life, and support school development. This conceptualization envisions school as a learning and living space. In such a space, physical activity is incorporated into everyday school life to promote the health, well-being, and educational development of students and to enhance the overall quality of time spent in school.

The complex human system — the intricate balance of body, mind and soul — is not designed to sit still. Over the course of millions of years of evolution, environmental factors have gradually shaped the human genome. One of the most vital behavioral adaptations of humans is their ability to exhibit resilience through physical activity.

Physical inactivity is related to almost all types of chronic diseases including heart insufficiency, Treatment-diabetes-info.com, metabolic syndrome, obesity, gall stones, depression, early aging, neurodegeneration, and even early death. On the cellular level, changes are even more dramatic: inactivity decreases neurogenesis in specific parts of the brain responsible for memory and motor learning.

Design Strategies That Activate Daily School Life
Spontaneous physical activity, in comparison to athletics play or workouts (which normally take place at certain times and in certain places), serves an important role in stimulating the sensomotoric system and balancing the body, mind and soul. Involuntary activity is not chosen and therefore bypasses higher cortical functions that voluntary exercise must cycle through on the way to implementation.

Spontaneous movement is composed of complex synaptic relationships which should be encouraged by movement persuasions like those found in rocking/flexible chairs, standing desks, mini trampolines, and classroom spaces that encourage hands-on learning and activity. Complementary arrangements like walking halls, outdoor classrooms, stairwells, and alternative modes of school transportation help inject physical activity into daily routines. Consistent activity overall plays a major role in maintaining body weight, caloric intake, overall health, and better brain function. It also supports students with ADHD problems.

Dr. Dieter Breithecker is a German Health and Kinetics Scientist. He is the head of the Federal Institute on the Development of Posture and Exercise in Germany and a member of “Ergonomics for Children & Educational Environment” (ECEE), a technical committee of the International Ergonomics Association. Between 1994 and 1999, he worked as managing director of an Ambulatory Rehabilitation Center with emphasis in orthopedic traumatological syndromes. Breithecker is widely published on the subject of Ergonomics for Children and Human Workstations. As an international expert he has been presenting all over Europe, Asia, Indonesia, North America, Australia and Saudi Arabia.

The post Bodies in Motion: More Health and Better Learning in an Enriched Physical Environment appeared first on School Construction News.

The design firm also earned the Innovative Architecture and Design Award from Recreation Management, a magazine for recreation and fitness facility managers. Moody Nolan received the award for its work on the new Ithaca College Athletics and Events Center. One judge praised the facility for having “good integration of form and function to create an iconic focal point.” The design maximizes the use of natural ventilation through the structure and a tower, by concentrating wind flow to dramatically decrease energy requirements. The company also earned an honorable mention from Learning by Design and an Outstanding Designs award from American School & University magazine.

Moody Nolan’s work at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Union South tied with another project for top honors from Wisconsin’s The Daily Reporter and received best-in-show from the Wisconsin State Construction Industry out of 30 possible applicants. The judging panel indicated it was recognizing the company for integrating student ideas in a campus space that will also be available for use by the community. The 170,000-square-foot facility the firm worked on features recreation and entertainment aspects, including a bowling alley and climbing wall, expanded food and retail offerings, and a 450-seat auditorium.

Curt Moody, founder of Moody Nolan in 1982, was very pleased with the awards and with the success of his company.

“The range of awards we’ve won solidifies the diversity of Moody Nolan and the talents of the architects,” he said. “As a firm, we strive to deliver our clients innovative designs within the parameters they provide. Every project is unique and we take a client’s dream and aspiration and make it a reality. It is great to look back and reflect on the success we have had for our clients on these projects.”

Moody said the company targeted about 14 specific awards on any given year as a baseline goal and “this year we exceeded that tremendously and we are not done yet.” The founder said his company now asks clients from the beginning of the design process if there are certain awards they are interested in pursuing based on their industries and areas of interest and uses that information to shape the plans, without any additional budget requirements.

Founded in Columbus, Ohio, Moody Nolan now has more than 160 employees spread out in regional offices across seven states, stretching from Dallas to Chicago, and has taken on projects in over 40 states. The company will be celebrating its 30th anniversary with special events throughout the year. Moody Nolan has been recognized with over 185 local, state, and national design citations since its inception, as well as being named Gold Medal Firm of the Year in 2006 by the Ohio Chapter of the American Institute of Architects.

The post Moody Nolan Hauls in Awards appeared first on School Construction News.