About

Most teachers around the world have built their practice around these incontrovertible truths:

• Most of their school day will be spent in a classroom
• They will be teaching several same-age students at the same time – often in groups as large as 25 – 35
• They will not routinely be collaborating with their peers
• They will be teaching single subjects
• A significant part of their work will involve direct instruction
   

Now, imagine a newly designed space within an existing school or in a new school where NONE of the above statements is true.  What if teachers did not have to spend their day in a traditional classroom? What if the number of students any teacher was working with could vary throughout the school day? What if students did not have to be grouped by age? What if hands-on student work dominated activities in learning spaces as opposed to teacher instruction? What if teachers worked in interdisciplinary teams and belonged to a small, manageable community of no more than 125 students? What if true differentiation and personalization is possible in school and what if schools could simulate the creative, real-world experiences that students need to be fully prepared for the new world into which they will graduate? 

 

Who Should Attend?

• Principals / Executive Teams
   
• Directors / Business Managers
   
• Deputies / Assistant Principals
   
• Future focused educators / curriculum leads / head of department


• Architects


• Facilities Managers


• Construction Companies

 

Why Attend?

• A majority of the learning that happens in schools is pre-determined by a design best suited for an industrial, mass-production model. In short, “school hardware” severely limits the “educational software” it can run.
   
• Learn how to move away from the rigidity of a static building to the agility of a Learning Building . Well-designed school buildings are ever-changing to accommodate the learning that is going on at any given time.
   
• This masterclass will offer clear and immediately usable strategies for educators to adapt their practice to maximize the benefits of new learning environments. 
   
• Find out how to design the future of learning for your school, and accommodate many more learning modalities, by breaking down classroom-based schools into learning, community-based schools.
   
• By reshaping schools to represent true Learning Buildings , we have an opportunity to physically manifest new and more powerful philosophies of learning. 
   
• Benefit from specific and immediately usable ideas to transform the learning environment for all students and, by extension, education itself.

 

What To Bring?

• Please BYO laptop device, not just a tablet or iPad.  Wireless Internet is provided.

 

Agenda

8:30 |  Arrival

9:00 |  Commencement

9:00 – 10:30 |  Session 1
Presentation and discussion about how to define effective teaching and what constitutes a student-centered learning space.

Learning Outcomes :  Closely examine teaching practice to understand what methods are likely to yield the greatest benefit with regard to student achievement. Understand the difference between “student-centered” vs. “student-directed” learning. Review and analyze two case studies of schools that changed learning spaces to realize improved student outcomes

10:30 – 11:00 |  Morning Tea 

11:00 – 12:45 |  Session 2  
This session will focus on Design Patterns and a common “Language of School Design.” It will conclude with an actual design exercise where participants will be given the opportunity to redesign a traditional school so that it can function more effectively for today’s and tomorrow’s needs. 

Learning Outcomes : Participants will learn how to critically analyse school spaces and be given an opportunity to utilize their new design vocabulary in order to redesign an existing school space so that it can function effectively for student-centered learning

12:45 – 13:45 |  Lunch 

13:45 – 14:55 |  Session 3
Each team will present their design ideas to the group at large and at the conclusion of the session, there will be a general discussion about what was learned from the design exercise.  They will also begin the design of a student-directed lesson that will fully utilize new paradigm school facilities

Learning Outcomes :  Attendees will learn from their colleagues about the various ways in which traditional school spaces can be altered to better serve today and tomorrow’s educational needs. They will also understand how new, and richer, lessons that utilize a variety of pedagogies and learning modalities will be possible in newly redesigned spaces

14:55 – 15:00 |  Networking Break 

15:00 – 16:00 |  Session 4  
Teams will mature and present lesson plans to the group at large. There will also be a general description of the day’s activities and learning

Learning Outcomes : Each participant will learn that there are many different lessons the new spaces will permit that would have been impossible in traditional school classrooms. They will also be able to understand the challenges presented by existing school buildings and campuses and how these can be overcome to design student-centered spaces and student-led learning experiences.

16:00 |  Conclusion