We love the photos of cool learning spaces with funky furniture They are captivating, inspiring, but it is impossible to know the full story from a tweeted photo. Recently I’ve had numerous opportunities to talk about the context for change and several resonating themes are emerging around people and change: That chair/table/tech won’t be the silver bullet It’sContinueContinue reading “Innovating learning environments: 4 ways to think about sustaining change”
Category Archives: Education
School life 2030: When the wheels finally fell off the education bandwagon
Which do you choose? Option 1: Learning in the 2030s has what I need, when I need it, nothing like my parents’ generation. They went to this thing called ‘school’, it looked like a prison! Option 2: Yeah, we tried those open, flexible classrooms in the 1970s and then again in the 2010s. It was never going toContinueContinue reading “School life 2030: When the wheels finally fell off the education bandwagon”
Great Teachers are Learning-Activists not Learning-Pacifists
I have recently began a new chapter in the PhD research project team: ILETC – Innovative Learning Environments and Teacher Change at Melbourne Graduate School of Education (Melbourne University). Our mission is to discover: Can altering teacher mind frames unlock the potential of innovative learning environments? Currently I’m immersed in “teacher mind frames”, a term used byContinueContinue reading “Great Teachers are Learning-Activists not Learning-Pacifists”
Good school design & why it matters: 9 point checklist #RIBA #TopMarksSchool
In 2015 the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) awarded the coveted Stirling Prize for the best new building to Burntwood School, a large comprehensive girls’ school in London. It is the UK’s most prestigious architecture prize. As Paul Monaghan, Director, Allford Hall Monaghan Morris, the winning architecture firm, said, “Schools can and should beContinueContinue reading “Good school design & why it matters: 9 point checklist #RIBA #TopMarksSchool”
So I said, “technology in schools should be like electricity – it should go unnoticed”
Can you imagine what it would have been like to live around the advent of electricity? It was in the 1930s, as Google tells me, that US homes had electricity in the urban areas. We can only imagine what this meant for the average urban family. Reading at night, listening to music, keeping food fresh.ContinueContinue reading “So I said, “technology in schools should be like electricity – it should go unnoticed””
Enabling Spontaneous Learning Environments: 5 keys to breaking free of (or within) the 4 walls
Are you comfortable with spontaneity, creating a context for learning that is fluid and able to respond to ideas? One of the underpinning factors in the design for Manhattan and The City, the newest precinct at Northern Beaches Christian School, has been to enable the creation of spontaneous spaces. “We have created a structure wherebyContinueContinue reading “Enabling Spontaneous Learning Environments: 5 keys to breaking free of (or within) the 4 walls”
How Finland is leading the way, again #phenomenonbasedteaching
The SCIL Vision Tour 2016 will be spending a few days in Finland. This small Nordic nation is in the process of rolling out its new curriculum approach phenomenon-based teaching. Around 15 years ago Finland became the shining light in education achievement, due to its “mouse that roared” status. With a small population and modestContinueContinue reading “How Finland is leading the way, again #phenomenonbasedteaching”
We just want a [insert big idea here]. The three As of culture change
It seems that a lazy long weekend gives enough time to chase down a rabbit hole or two. Each day I receive an update from Medium, a community of readers and writers offering unique perspectives on ideas large and small. Of course, as with most of these things, we sign up with good intentions, but thereContinueContinue reading “We just want a [insert big idea here]. The three As of culture change”
What happens when 16 architects & educators travel together in the wintry north? Part 2
We spent five nights based in Copenhagen, including a weekend, which enabled the group to explore city and visited Hellerup Skole and Orestad Gymnasium (Senior High School) both are considered inspirational designs. We were grateful that the principal of Orestad took time to talk about the vision – “the open plan office as a school”. AtContinueContinue reading “What happens when 16 architects & educators travel together in the wintry north? Part 2”
What happens when 16 architects & educators travel together in the wintry north? Part 1
We met for dinner in downtown Helsinki on a Sunday night, our first night. We walked from our hotel through snowy streets to the restaurant, where many of us took the when-in-Rome option and chose reindeer from the menu. It was the first time we’d all been together as a group. By Thursday the group was laughing withContinueContinue reading “What happens when 16 architects & educators travel together in the wintry north? Part 1”
culture | learning | design 