Project Aims and Methodology
Do teachers recognise the importance of the environment as a key part of their overall thinking and practice? Do principals hire more staff rather than ask whether investing in the environment might achieve equal impact? The school environment is just one aspect of an interrelated system of cultural, economic, pedagogical, oganisational and motivational factors. Research suggests that teachers do not perceive the physical environment as a major indicator of educational outcomes and are therefore unlikely to fully explore the potential of the environment as a 3D textbook to facilitate learning (Nair and Fielding 2005).
Schools cannot be green without being smart and can't be smart without being green. "For a society searching for ways to address the educational needs of the future, the building itself is a good start." (Berner in Clark, 2002:1).
This research aims to evaluate recent school designs that are perceived as exemplars of emerging environmentally responsible and pedagogically sensitive design.
- A1 to analyse school performance in terms of energy, water, waste, lighting etc. during one complete school year and to compare these outcomes with the design intent;
- A2 to explore the perception and use of the built environment for learning and as a 3D textbook;
- A3 to understand how building use by students, staff and community is facilitated, hindered or restricted by the building design and building management;
- A4 to analyse the interactions between architects and educators via spatial literacy and pedagogical discourse.
The aims of the project are both theoretical and intellectual. Practically, there is an urgent need for current and local data on school design to ensure government funds are being spent effectively and to ensure Australian children have access to facilities which support their learning. Theoretically, the research seeks to advance thinking about how schools, as complex systems, engage with contemporary curriculum and environmental issues.
In year one (see table) a curriculum intervention will be developed with the collaboration of the teachers, architects and researchers. This will encompass environmental and educational parameters. In the second year, the middle schools students will be given questionnaires before the intervention.
Then the intervention will be applied with the collaboration of the teachers the architects and the researchers, and then the student will be re-questioned. In the final year the data will be collated and synthesised into useful outputs for the Department of Education and architectural industries.
Evaluation by Higgins et al (2005: 6) of recent research suggests that benefits from changes have less to do with the specific element chosen and more to do with how the process of change is managed. This indicates a strong link between effective engagement with all building users and the success of the environmental changes.
The research methodology proposed does not attempt to simplify the organic processes of design, occupation and engagement. Rather, using a mix of qualitative and quantitative research methods, a better understanding will be achieved regarding different perceptions and needs of all parties including the users and designers, attitudes of teachers and whether they engage dynamically with the space and staff and student morale.
Schools are best understood as complex systems in which the physical environment interacts with pedagogical, socio-cultural, curricular, motivational and socio-economic factors as well as providing benefits or costs in environmental terms. Students are the focus of our research and will help collect environmental data and therefore learn about climate and energy. In this proactive research methodology, students, teachers and architects will collaborate to manipulate the spaces to suit different learning modalities. Students will participate within teams to further their problem solving, communication and organizational skills.
They will help collect environmental data and therefore learn more about climate and energy. In this proactive research methodology, students, teachers and architects will collaborate to manipulate the spaces to suit different learning modalities. They will also participate within teams to further their problem solving, communication and organizational skills. Teachers will learn to effectively manage space both environmentally and pedagogically. Architects will have the unusual opportunity of experiencing and critiquing their designs through the eyes of users.
Teachers will learn to effectively manage space both environmentally and pedagogically. This project should develop models of integrated units across disciplines and ways of actively engaging students in the learning process via research, activities and use of space.
Architects will have the unusual opportunity of experiencing and critiquing their designs through the eyes of users. Currently they have surprisingly little opportunity to observe how users relate to the buildings they have designed. Likewise building users have surprising little opportunity to work with architects on effective occupation of space. Architects rarely undertake detailed post-occupancy evaluations on their buildings. Mistakes by architects get repeated and assumptions rarely questioned. In addition it appears that there is a missed opportunity for users to be involved and receive expert advice on how space can be used dynamically and flexibly.
This research will also make recommendations on how environmental considerations might be better embedded into teacher education and school management training.