Page 108 - Education World November 2022

Teacher-2-Teacher

Importance of providing

multiple learning spaces

ALOKESH SEN

HE DESCRIPTIVE ‘LEARNING SPACE’ EVOKES Latter-day studies indicate that carefully
the image of classrooms in which teachers and
students are involved in face-to-face interac- designed, peaceful campuses with
Ttion. Undoubtedly, classrooms are the principal numerous learning spaces for formal
theatres of teaching-learning. However, in present times
of internet connectivity and hybrid education, learning and informal education, dramatically
spaces need to be more broadly defined. In my school, improve students' learning outcomes
students sitting by a pond or in our meditation centre
are in a learning space. Therefore, it follows that a well-
designed and landscaped school will provide numerous tive learning environments promote children’s indepen-
spaces conducive to knowledge transference and absorp- dence, interdependence and self-motivation.
tion to improve students’ learning outcomes. As stated earlier, campus architecture, design and
Promoters of greenfield schools in particular, as also landscaping are transforming into skilled sciences be-
principals supervising renovation and expansion of cause institutional managements, principals and teach-
schools, should bear in mind that designing campuses ers need to move beyond and provide multiple learning
to create multiple learning spaces for pupils is a mat- spaces for children to acquire, absorb and often create
ter of great importance. Design and landscaping has to knowledge. Moreover, traditional classrooms themselves
be simultaneously visionary and practical. Therefore, have to reconfigure to accommodate new digital technolo-
selecting architects/designers with in-depth knowledge of gies, including wide screens, computer terminals and
educational psychology, who take pains to understand the desktops which have revolutionised classroom instruction
philosophy of specific educational institutions for whom and learning.
they construct infrastructure and buildings, requires care- ith digitalisation and incremental usage of laptops
ful consideration. For instance, in the Birla Public School, Wand robots in classrooms, some educators have
Pilani, the junior school was designed by the legendary been tempted to predict teacher substitution with remote
Dr. Maria Montessori herself. The design and layout of mentoring technologies. This is unlikely in the foreseeable
the building provides ample evidence that Dr. Montessori future. However, while it is improbable that education
understood the sensory impact of diverse learning spaces technology will replace teachers, it’s certain that teachers
and how they develop cognitive processes. who don’t embrace technology will be replaced by those
In recent years considerable research has been con- who do.
ducted involving spaces, senses and the brain. It’s now In the circumstances, an important duty of school
well established that children have diverse learning styles managements and principals is to ensure continuous
and processes. Therefore, learning spaces in schools must training and development of teachers. Excellent online
provide for diversity after budgeting for commonalities professional development programmes are available
such as age, sex, socio-economic background of learners. from Southampton and Leeds universities and the Brit-
Moreover, campus design must also conform with the ish Council, among other higher education institutions
vision, mission statement and educational philosophy of worldwide. Moreover, many of our teachers are members
every school. of international organisations such as Global Educa-
Creation of learning spaces in a school depends largely tion Conference Network, Tony Blair Institute of Global
on what type of learning the institutional leadership val- Change which enable them to debate and exchange peda-
ues, and wants to encourage. For instance in recent years, gogies to effectively mentor tech-savvy students preparing
pedagogies that encourage critical thinking, problem to become productive global citizens.
solving, collaboration, team building, integrated learn- In sum, in progressive schools, learning spaces are
ing etc have assumed increasing importance. Therefore, not restricted to four walls of a classroom. It is important
school campuses and buildings have to be designed and/ to encourage learning in diverse environments. In the
or modified to enable new pedagogies. pre-liberalisation socialist era, intellectual and academic
More lately, there’s been a rediscovery of the ad- opinion tended to be critical of well-designed campuses
vantages of peer-to-peer learning. In schools with high and capital expenditure on infrastructure.
teacher-pupil ratios, cluster-learning with small groups of Latter-day studies however, have concluded that care-
children led by brighter students and one-on-one in more fully designed, peaceful campuses with numerous learn-
fortunate institutions, have become popular. Therefore, ing spaces for formal and informal education, dramati-
buildings, classrooms and gardens should transform into cally improve students’ learning outcomes.
enabling learning spaces. It’s important for school pro-
moters, principals and leaders to appreciate that produc- (Alokesh Sen is principal of the Birla Public School, Pilani)

108 EDUCATIONWORLD NOVEMBER 2022