Session Information
01 SES 01 C, Initial Teacher Education in Various Contexts
Paper Session
Contribution
This study investigates user experiences with newly built school environments by capturing experiences from Norwegian students and teachers. The school's physical environment is important for students' learning, well-being, and participation, and the physical environment outside and inside schools affects both learning and the working environment (Plotka, 2016; Niemi et al., 2022). Over the past twenty years there has been an effort to modernize schools and education, which has led to changes and new thinking in the design of school buildings and learning spaces (Deed & Lesko 2015; Rönnlund et al., 2021). In parallel there has been an international focus on skills needed for the 21st century and on inclusive education (eg. OECD, 2013). New school buildings, often named as innovative learning environments, are designed with flexible learning spaces, modern technology, and equipment to create room for a more adaptable and varied curriculum and to facilitate reformed practises of teachers’ work and students learning (Benade & Jackson, 2017). Innovative learning environments can be seen as a physical and pedagogical move to change educational culture and restructure educational practices (Page et al., 2021). Traditional classrooms, with rows of desks and teachers as instructors and mediators in front of the students, are nowadays described as outdated (Benade & Jackson, 2017). Flexible and extended learning spaces for larger student groups are thought to better support and improve teaching and student-active learning (Frelin & Grannäs, 2022). These environments are introduced with the aim of facilitating innovative forms of teaching and learning which in turn will promote future-oriented competences. However, little is known about how well the new school buildings support educational goals, and whether the physical environment and equipment are used as intended, are experienced as appropriate for the users, or live up to the ambitions, assumptions and intentions put forward regarding changes in teaching and learning (Mulcahy et al., 2015). In many cases, the design and use of new schools have revealed significant challenges for practical use and studies have shown such problems to be costly, when new schools must be rebuilt, rearranged, or re-aligned to become more appropriate for educational practice (Tse et al., 2019; Saltmarsh et al., 2015). Thus, the design of schools must be carefully assessed, and several considerations and factors come into play on how well a school building meets users’ needs (Byers et al., 2018; Dovey & Fisher, 2014). The design of new school buildings has met some resistance, and challenges with noise, unrest and concentration problems among students have characterized the debate (Everatt et al., 2019; Mealings et al., 2015; Shield et al., 2010). How teachers work in and respond to innovative and flexible school buildings can influence educational practice (Saltmarsh et al., 2015). Research on flexible learning environments and teachers' work points to different types of opportunities and challenges teachers face in new learning environments (Campbell, 2020; Young et al., 2020, Niemi, 2021; Vidergor, 2021). There is much evidence that teachers being able to experiment with teaching activities and organization is important to be comfortable and safe using new school buildings in an appropriate way (Vidergor, 2021). Today's school life has evolved from controlled timetables to an increase in students’ self-management through daily and weekly plans, and from having a clear and regulated school environment, to many children experiencing learning environments arranged for project and group work. The schools have to be inclusive both by design and educational practice for a varied diversity of students. Knowledge about teachers and students’ interactions, relations and experiences with the school’s physical environments may contribute to understanding how to and what supports both teachers' and students’ practices and well-being at school
Method
The study was conducted using a qualitative research design with photovoice and group interviews. Students and teachers are acting individuals who interact with and use the physical surroundings at school. Thus, our purpose was to obtain rich descriptions of how students and teachers experience the school's physical environment. We chose to use photovoice (Wang & Burris, 1997; Sutton-Brown, 2014; Ihlebæk et.al, 2021) to facilitate the participants' voices and to enable the participants to gain greater ownership over the interaction with us researchers. This method gives hold of what the participants themselves are concerned with and is less governed by what we researchers have defined in advance. Thus, photovoice can help provide information that might otherwise be missed and gives the participants greater influence in the research than a traditional interview or questionnaire, where the questions are to a greater extent defined in advance. Kile (2021) highlights photovoice as a method suitable for researching how design is experienced, what challenges facing others can arise and how to improve situations. Thus, photovoice can prove useful for design researchers and practitioners alike as they seek to understand the challenges. The method shows applicability in different contexts (eg. Zuch et al., 2013; Ihlebæk et al., 2021), and we used photovoice by having teachers and students taking photos according to a description they had received in advance. In the description, emphasis was not placed on specific rooms they were to take photos of, but places where they felt it was best to learn/teach, where it was safe/unsafe, quiet/noisy, etc. Nevertheless, they were free to photograph and talk about what they thought was important to pass on. Based on the participants' photographs, we conducted conversation-based group interviews at the schools with students and teachers separately. Using photovoice, the participants have had a great influence on which themes became central in the conversations and interviews, and which rooms and what kind of interior they have highlighted through the photos. We had a total sample of 12 groups: 5 teacher groups and 7 student groups. Both primary and secondary school levels were represented. In beforehand, we had participated at interviews with principals and municipal school planners, as well as in guided tours at the school’s premises. The interviews were recorded digitally and produced a rich empirical material which was transcribed into text and analysed thematically and discussed in the context of research on education and physical school environments.
Expected Outcomes
Our aim was to explore users’ experiences with relatively newly built school environments. Results show that moving into new school premises was experienced by most, both students and teachers, as positive. They appreciated new materials, exciting designs and being surrounded by good colours. Even though the schools in our sample were different in both design and size, there were still some recurring themes that can be described as a form of "pain points". A recurring theme among students and teachers was that the changing rooms were perceived as small and/or poorly furnished in relation to the number of students. This led to an increased level of conflict and stress. Likewise, the need for break-out rooms or alternative learning spaces and rest rooms was a consistent theme. To practice before moving into new premises was seen by the teachers as positive: those who got to train in new learning areas or mock-ups before moving from a traditional school into a more open and flexible school was beneficial. Several teachers were calling for better collaboration with planners, and to be explained why specific furniture or building solutions had been chosen, or frustration at not being heard when having specific wishes. Several informants felt that the outdoor environment was somewhat forgotten when new schools were built. Safety was important to the students: safe toilets and changing rooms, and the health nurse’s office with a cosy, shielded waiting area outside were highlighted by several students as a safe and good place. In general, the study provides knowledge concerning relations and interactions between users and the physical environment useful for discussions and plannings of future school environments. Knowledge of how physical environments of schools supports both students and teachers can be a valuable contribution to the fields of diversity, inclusive education, and teachers’ professional development.
References
Benade, L. & Jackson, M. (2017). Intro to ACCESS special issue: Modern learning environments, Educational Philosophy and Theory, 49:8, 744-748, DOI:10.1080/00131857.2017.131798 Campbell, L. (2020). Teaching in an Inspiring Learning Space: an investigation of the extent to which one school’s innovative learning environment has impacted on teachers’ pedagogy and practice, Research Papers in Education, 35:2, 185-204, DOI: 10.1080/02671522.2019.1568526 Deed, C., & Lesko, T. M. (2015). ‘Unwalling’ the classroom: Teacher reaction and adaptation. Learning Environment Research, 18, 217–231. Dovey, K. & Fisher, K. (2014). Designing for adaptation: the school as socio-spatial assemblage, The Journal of Architecture, 19:1, 43-63, DOI: 10.1080/13602365.2014.882376 Everatt, J., Fletcher, J. & Fickel, L. (2019). School leaders’ perceptions on reading, writing and mathematics in innovative learning environments, Education 3-13, 47:8, 906-919, DOI: 10.1080/03004279.2018.1538256 Ihlebæk, C.; Castellan, C.; Flobak, J.; Ese, J. (2021). The School as an Arena for Co-Creating Participation, Equity, and Well-Being—A Photovoice Study from Norway. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18, 8252. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18168252 Kile, M. (2021) Uncovering Social Issues Through Photovoice: A Comprehensive Methodology. HERD: Health Environments Research & Design Journal, Volume 15, Issue 1 Mulcahy, D., Cleveland, B. & Aberton, H. (2015). Learning spaces and pedagogic change: envisioned, enacted and experienced, Pedagogy, Culture & Society, DOI: 10.1080/14681366.2015.1055128 Niemi, K. (2021). ‘The best guess for the future?’ Teachers’ adaptation to open and flexible learning environments in Finland, Education Inquiry, 12:3, 282-300, DOI:10.1080/20004508.2020.1816371 Niemi, K., Minkkinen, J. & Poikkeus, A-M. (2022). Opening up learning environments: liking school among students in reformed learning spaces, Educational Review. DOI: 10.1080/00131911.2022.2098927 OECD. (2013). Innovative learning environments. Paris: OECD. Retrieved from https://www.oecd.org/education/ceri/innovativelearningenvironmentspublication.htm Plotka, E. (2016). Better Spaces for Learning. London: Royal Institute for British Architects RIBA Saltmarsh, S., Chapman, A., Campbell, M. & Drew, C. (2015). Putting 'structure within the space': Spatially un/responsive pedagogic practices in open-plan learning environments. Educational Review, 67(3), 315-327 Sutton-Brown, C. A. (2014) Photovoice: A Methodological Guide, Photography and Culture, 7:2, 169-185, DOI: 10.2752/175145214X13999922103165 Tse, H. M., Daniels, H. & Stables, A. (2019). School design matters. In: Hau Ming Tse, Harry Daniels, Andrew Stables & Sarah Cox (Eds.): Designing Buildings for the Future of Schooling. 2019. London: Routledge Vidergor, H. E. (2021). Coping with teaching in innovative learning spaces: challenges, insights and practices. Learning Environments Research (2022) 25:707–724. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10984-021-09396-5 Wang, C., & Burris, M. A. (1997). Photovoice: Concept, Methodology, and Use for Participatory Needs Assessment. Health Education & Behavior, 24(3), 369–387. http://www.jstor.org/stable/45056507
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